When I reached the library, a few students sat scattered around.
And then I saw her.
A girl in the corner, alone, with her hood up.
I walked in, heart pounding.
I felt slightly dizzy when I realized that the girl was wearing the same gray hoodie Lily used to wear.
Something shifted, and this time, I didn’t hesitate.
I walked over.
“Hey,” I said gently.
She looked up, startled.
“Hi…”
“Mind if I sit?”
She shrugged. “Okay.”
I sat across from her.
“What are you reading?”
She glanced down. “Nothing important.”
I felt slightly dizzy.
I nodded. “Those are usually the best ones.”
She smiled a little.
And just like that, something started blooming.
It seemed Lily’s promise to herself was that she would prepare me for life after she was gone… without letting me know she’d accepted that reality.
And for the first time since losing her, I wasn’t stuck in the silence anymore.
I was moving.
And somehow, that felt exactly like what she’d been hoping for all along.
