CHAPTER 21_ Identity shift
Elara texted me just after sunset. Be ready in twenty. Wear something that makes you feel dangerous. I’m picking you up. I read it three times. Dangerous wasn’t a word I associated with myself. Not anymore. Still, my chest tightened like my body recognized the invitation before my mind could argue with it. When the knock came, I wasn’t ready — not really. I opened the door anyway. Elara stood there like she belonged in the hallway. Black blazer, silk top catching the light, hair loose in that deliberate way that pretended not to be deliberate at all. Her eyes flicked over me slowly, openly, like she wasn’t worried about being caught looking. “Lisa,” she said. The way she said my name did something to me every time. Like she was claiming it gently. Like it tasted better in her mouth.
- Writer
