By the time the dismissal bell rang, the weight that had been living in my chest all day finally loosened just enough for me to breathe again. Taylor seemed… okay. Really okay. Normal in a way I hadn’t seen him since this morning. He walked beside me with a bounce in his step, swinging our backpacks like he had too much energy and nowhere to put it.
“Mom said she’s making the big chocolate-chip ones,” he announced, nudging me with his elbow as we stepped out of our classroom. “The really soft ones? With the melty centers?”
His eyes were bright. Not the half-dimmed, hurt version I’d seen earlier. Just warm, enthusiastic, familiar Taylor.
I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. “Yeah? She told you that this morning?”
He nodded eagerly. “Before we left. Said she’d surpr
