-Raya-
Classes ended before I felt ready.
No practice today meant I didn’t have to sprint to the field or race through my routine. Instead, I quietly packed my sketchpad into my bag, slipped my pencil behind my ear, and walked through the now-familiar halls like I wasn’t thinking too hard about the next few hours.
But of course, I was.
It would be my third official shift at Penny’s, and even though the first and second had gone well, I still felt the nerves bunching up behind my ribs like they were waiting to trip me. The thought of all those dishes, clinking glass, last-minute customer rushes, and trying not to spill anything kept looping through my head like a scratched record.
I told myself I’d take the bus. It was what I had planned all along. I didn’t want to keep asking Alec for
