“She was 17.”
“Yes,” I replied simply.
Relief hit so hard it made me dizzy.
“And her parents did that.”
“Yes.”
“I spent so long thinking she dumped me because of my face,” Lily said. “It wasn’t that simple.”
“No,” I said. “It rarely is.”
Then she looked up. “You and Thomas are my parents. That doesn’t change.”
Relief hit so hard it made me dizzy. “We’re not losing you?”
She snorted. “I’m not trading you two for a stranger with cancer. You’re stuck with me.”
We wrote back.
Thomas put a hand to his chest. “So affectionate.”
Lily’s voice softened. “I think I want to meet her,” she said. “Not because she earned it. Because I need to know.”
We wrote back. A week later, we met Emily at a small coffee shop.
She walked in thin and pale, a scarf over her head. Her eyes were Lily’s.
Lily stood. “Emily?”
Emily nodded. “Lily.”
“I was scared.”
They sat across from each other, both shaking in different ways.
“You’re beautiful,” Emily said, voice cracking.
Lily touched her cheek. “I look the same. This never changed.”
“I was wrong to let anyone tell me it made you less,” Emily said. “I was scared. I let my parents decide. I’m sorry.”
