I Held the Keys

By the time he came, I no longer needed saving, and that turned out to be the only condition under which I could let anyone close at all.

Chapter 12 — The Exhibit

In May, Sadie’s school held an evening exhibition where the students presented research projects.

She chose resilience. She built a display board and titled it, in careful block letters, What People Build After Difficult Things Happen.
At the bottom, in her own handwriting, with no help from me, she had added a sentence: Resilient people stop waiting forever to be rescued and learn the next safe step.

I was standing there reading it, my throat tight, when I felt her go still beside me.

I followed her eyes to the cafeteria doors, and there they were, under the fluorescent lights — my mother, my father, Brooke, and Trevor.

Sadie moved in close against my side.