Ariana
The date invite hit me like a splash of ice water. Even now, hours later, I was still swimming in confusion. I lay flat on my back on the stiff mattress, staring at the ceiling of my borrowed room, silent, I didn’t know how to answer overactive brain.
A date.
My hand instinctively went to my chest, a weird, panicked flutter happening under my ribs. I hadn't planned for this. My life had a checklist: Finish School. Then, Study Criminology/Detective Work. Next, Find Mom. Finally, Build a massive house where my whole family—Mom, Dad, could finally be together, safe.
I had skipped the whole middle section of a normal teenage girl’s life: Falling in love, getting married, having kids. That stuff was just noise, a distraction from the only mission that mattered. But now, staring at th
