i

always done this, taking things that were not hers, smiling w

r bracelet and claiming it looked better on her. Vanessa laughing when thei

bout her family. Ethan, who knew exactly what V

tation already replacing guilt. "Look, d

aid n

Always talking about bills and your mother and problems." His eyes swept over her, cold now. "You're boring, Ava. And y

utal and clean. Vanessa tilted her hea

cave in. But when she spoke, her

r is dead

ll si

essa. "He was you

ug expression flickered. It last

oo

nder that even if they had shredded her pride tonight, th

at. The silence stret

who had forgotten her by morning and betrayed her by night, and suddenly she sa

e, not in front of Ethan, not in front of Vanessa, not while they sat wrapped in stolen pleas

d around and

hey still had power over her. Instead she closed it quietly behind her and kept walking unt

me once. Just once. It was weak, half-hearted, and

n't tur

er the city in furious sheets, soaking her hair, her dress, and her skin

p and looked down at the cake in her hands. The box had bent inward. Pi

she op

d wrecked. A l

spered to herself, and th

he box landed with a soft, humiliating thud. Ava s

mother's empty chair, and fear waiting in every corner. Ethan was gone. Her pride was gone

give her sympathy, not money. The bank had already turned her down twice. Her friends were as broke as sh

birthda

lips together

arms wrapped around herself, every breath unsteady. Her dress clung to her skin like ice. Strands

weakly in her han

%

and vanished before she could rea

gh that sounded too clos

f the street and pushed t

when sh

rain and darkness like temptation its

R L

hed black hoods gleaming under the rain. Everything about the place screamed money. It was the kind of place Ava never entered, where

ould go home, charge her phone,

shaking, staring at that glowing sig

t. Just one. Then I'l

. Temporary. But tonight,

ong the curb. She climbed the short steps, her hand trembling as

first. Then mus

er. Her wet shoes left small prints on the polished floor, and for a moment she felt painfully

es. Glass clinked against glas

st n