COLEEN
It’s ridiculous how something as simple as a phone buzz could stir hope inside me.
Every time my screen lit up, even if it was just Alicia sending me a meme or a notification about an assignment, I had that tiny flicker of anticipation in my chest. Like maybe, just maybe, it would be him.
Sometimes it was.
Sometimes it wasn’t.
I tried not to let it get to me. I told myself I was being mature, realistic. I told myself that three weeks wasn’t forever, and that I had survived worse things than silence.
But no one tells you how loud a little bit of silence can be.
Especially when it comes from someone whose voice started to feel like a home you weren’t ready to lose.
It had been almost two weeks since Hayden left for camp. Winter break was just a few days away, and most people o
