I slipped into my room before the clock struck nine. I didn't want to hear the door open and feel the house tense around Justin's presence. I didn't want his stress to bleed into me, not tonight, not when my own chest just got too light for talking to my dad and I didn't want him to destroy the good mood, I was in.. So, I gathered what I would need: pajamas, my journal, a novel, a bottle of juice, my phone, and my charger. It was my way of drawing an invisible line, of telling myself that tonight would belong to me.
The room felt like both a sanctuary and a cage. I lay on the bed, propped up against the pillows, the book resting open in my hands. I read the words on the page, but I wasn't absorbing them. Every few minutes, I took a sip of juice, the sweetness cutting through the dryness in my throat. My body wanted rest, but my mind was restless, circling thoughts like vultures around some unseen carcass.
