they excluded you.”

“I believe you.”

She visibly relaxed.

Then I added, “But you noticed I wasn’t there.”

Her expression changed.

“Of course I noticed.”

“Did you wonder where I was?”

“Yes.”

“Did you text me?”

Her eyes dropped.

“No.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

That answer hurt precisely because Leah wasn’t cruel.

My absence had been obvious.

She had simply accepted the continue reading …