Salome’s POV
"You think you can just hide from the world on a porch in Jersey?"
I didn't look up at the sound of my mother’s voice from the screen door. I kept my eyes fixed on the horizon, where the trees blurred into a soft, hazy green. The air here felt thicker than in the city, tasting of damp earth and coming rain. It was a relief. In New York, every breath felt like inhaling someone else’s opinion. Here, the only thing judging me was the rhythmic creak of my grandmother’s old rocking chair.
"I'm not hiding," I said, though my thumb was already hovering over the power button of my phone. "I'm recalibrating."
"That's a fancy word for brooding," Mom replied. She stepped out, her shadow falling across my lap. She didn't stay long, heading back inside to help Grandma Remedios with the
