Chapter 18: WHAT THEY HAD FORGOTTEN.
One girl can spark change. Ivy demonstrates this in just seven days. She slips into their lives, slowly at first—just a smile here, a laugh there, and a persistent reminder that life doesn't have to be all about war and waiting. Then, more quickly, she spreads through the group until even the most resistant find themselves doing things they swore they'd never do.
Jackson, who constantly roars at her and looks at her as if she is a disease, ends up helping her string lights across the town square. His hands tremble slightly when she stands too close, guiding him to move the ladder left, no right, no back to the left. He can't understand why being near her tightens his chest or why every instinct urges him to please her while his mind fights against it.
