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So why didn’t I take off the ring as soon as I noticed it?

"I d-don’t--" I start, and he blinks up to my face "I didn’t want to put it down and lose it In case it was real orbelonged to so the table, and notice tedding rings there, between the salt and pepper shakers They’re s Is one of them his? Oh God

I start to sliper still decorated with a ring, too "Don’t be embarrassed I didn’t want to lose it, either"

This is too weird Ipulled under by a violent wave I’ that we’re a in a feeeks We’ve just e mess And oh my God, I can’t want this Aet out of this sort of thing?

I push back froabout this?" I ask "The others?" As if I need to clarify who I mean

He swipes a hand over his face, and looks over his shoulder as if the guysback toin the lobby at one, I think And then I guess you girls plan to head ho at home with my family, where even the adorable boy chatter ofXbox can’t drown out the killjoy of ain: my father What if he finds out about this? Would he still help pay foron hiiddy little sets to tell ht now Panic starts like a slow boil in my stomach, and heat flashes across my skin My hands feel clammy and a cold sweat prickles at my forehead I should find Lola and Harlow I should leave

"I should probably find the girls and get ready before we" I wave vaguely in the direction of the elevators and stand, feeling sick for an entirely different set of reasons now

"Mia," he says, reaching for my hand He pulls a thick envelope froive you"

And there’sletter

Chapter FOUR

AFTER THE ACCIDENT, I’d barely cried in the hospital, still convinced it was all soirl, not me, who’d crossed University and Lincoln on a bike the week before high school graduation Soht A different Mia shattered her pelvis and broke her leg so thoroughly a bone extended froh

I’d been numb and in shock the first few days; the pain was dulled by a steady drip of h the haze, I was certain it was all a mistake I was a ballerina I’d just been accepted to Joffrey Ballet School Even when the roo the extent of my injuries, I didn’t cry--because it wasn’t aboutabout some other person My fracture was minimal Maybe my knee was sprained Someone smarter would come in any minute and explain it all They had to

But they didn’t, and the ed and faced with the reality of life without dancingthere wasn’t enough morphine in the world to insulatewas ruined--and with it, the future I’d worked toward led with for most of my childhood had returned, andthe odds ofnot to be inwardly celebrating

For six months I barely spoke I did what I had to: I carried on I healed on the outside while Lola and Harloatched over ether with a fake smile and staples

Ansel leads ht It’s decidedly less dark thisinto the envelope he’s placed in nificance of this, that the last time I wrote ain, the day I told s I’d lost but it was tis I was afraid to say out loud, and slowly began to accept o like I’d always planned, I enrolled at UC San Diego and finally did so with honors and applying to the ious business schools in the country In the end I had raet as far away as I could, from both him and the accident

The envelope is wrinkled and worn, creased where it’s been folded and probably pulled in and out of his pocket over and over, and reminds me so much of the letter I’ve read and reread over the years that I have a flash of déjà vu Soe of my lipstick on the opposite side, but the flap is still perfectly sealed, the edges not pulling away even a little bit He didn’t try to open it, though judging by his anxious expression he’s ive that to you today," he says quietly "I didn’t read it"