The night felt colder than it should.
I was still kneeling on the sidewalk after what just happened, after Daniel Carter, with a quiet, half whispering voice, called me by a name even I hadn't heard in years.
"Valerie… Kessler."
The world seemed to stop for a moment.
I looked at him, and he looked back with an expression that was too soft, too familiar for someone I had met twice.
Daniel stepped closer by half a step, the streetlamp cutting across his face, making him look younger… and at the same time older than the boy in my memories.
"I thought I was going crazy," he said quietly, almost relieved.
"Turns out I wasn't. It really is you."
Thud.
My heart dropped to my stomach.
Shit.
I forced my face to stay neutral.
Stay normal.
Stay Emily, not Valerie.
"W—wait, you must be mistaken," I said quickly. "Like I said… I have a common face. People get it wrong all the time."
Daniel only gave a thin smile.
