Celeste
My phone buzzed, pulling me from my thoughts. A text from Elowen lit up the screen.
“Are you okay?”
I stared at the message for a moment before typing back. “It’s complicated.”
“Your mom again?”
Elowen knew me better than anyone. She’d been there through the nights I’d cried myself to sleep, the endless calls when everything at home felt like it was collapsing.
“Among other things. This whole situation… it’s just weird.”
“The stepbrother?”
I hesitated before responding. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, El. Every time he’s near, I feel… off. Like, I can’t think straight. My body reacts before my brain even catches up.”
I typed carefully, trying to capture everything—awkward glances, accidental touches, the heat that flared through me even when I tried to push it down.
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