“You could be a leader,” I say without thinking.
She laughs lightly, like the idea’s ridiculous. “Not me.”
“Why not you?”
Her smile fades. “I just… I don’t fit in anywhere.”
“You’d fit if you wanted to,” I say, and it comes out sharper than intended.
She blinks at me, tilting her head. “What does that mean?”
“You can’t seriously be asking me that. Do you not see yourself clearly? I've never met anyone like you, Hope. You're smart and strong, and if you stopped focusing on putting distance between you and other people, they would come to see you as I do.”
Neither of us speaks for a moment. I sip the wine, watching her. She’s tense now, shoulders a little tighter.
“Tessa tells me the same thing,” she admits. “I'm just not sure I can anymore.”
“It's funny how sometimes letting ourse
