LILY
Two months had passed since that terrible day. Two months of being completely untethered from everything I had known. My life had become a series of small, fragile steps forward, each one balancing precariously on the edge of disaster. Somehow, I managed to survive.
Somehow, I had managed to exist in a world that had already decided I didn’t deserve anything.
That afternoon, I was sitting on the cracked sidewalk outside a small corner café, my knees drawn to my chest, my hands wrapped around them as if they could keep me from breaking apart entirely. The autumn wind bit at my skin, chilling me through the thin layers of clothing I could afford. Tears streamed freely down my cheeks, the kind that came without restraint, without shame. My chest heaved with quiet sobs, the kind you d
