"One more?" My dad's voice reverberated through the narrow aisle, focusing on the picture I held tightly in my hand, which was now covered in sweat.
Maekynzie's lips were pouty, frozen in the middle of a tantrum. I swallowed hard, feeling the knot in my throat tighten with each agonizing blink. "Yeah," I croaked, my fingers digging into Noelle's goodbye scrapbook. The once-familiar leather felt like a tombstone against my clammy skin.
Dad offered a sympathetic pat on my shoulder, but the gesture fell flat against the rising tide of dread in my stomach. Leaving Colorado, my friends... it was like ripping off a Band-Aid, slow and agonizing. Texas, with its sterile hospital rooms and endless tests, stretched before me like a desolate wasteland.
At least I looked the part. My go-to cable-kn
