58. Empty
Mara
The days after that parking lot confrontation stretched into an endless gray fog. I pushed everyone away, including Marcus… especially Marcus.
Every time he tried to talk to me, I gave him short, empty answers and retreated to my room. Jess texted almost daily, worried. I left her messages on read. College was on hold. The world outside felt too loud, too bright, too full of reminders of everything I had lost.
I became a loner in my own life.
I spent most of my time in the guest room at Marcus’s apartment, curled up with the one hoodie of Zander’s I had managed to keep hidden. I wore it to sleep every night, breathing in the fading scent of him until it became nothing more than a ghost of memory. I barely ate. I barely slept. When I did sleep, I dreamed of strong arms a
