Five years later.
The moment Georgia stepped out of the airport terminal, warm, thick air wrapped around her, heavy with the soft, balmy humidity of the coast. Through the jumble of passing cars and bustling crowds, she spotted her mom and dad across the street, waving their arms wildly to catch her eye.
"Georgia, you've gotten so thin." That was the first thing her mom said the second she walked up.
Georgia curled her lips into a soft smile and pulled her mom into a hug. "Have I? I don't think so."
Her dad, who'd already grabbed her suitcase to haul it to the car, glanced back at her for a few seconds and mumbled quietly, "You have, definitely thinner."
The car zipped down the highway, and for a second, it felt like she was being carried straight back to the days before she'd left t
