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“The store,” I say

My mom tsks “You need to hire more than one employee so you can take some time off once in a while, dear But we’d really love to see you Maybe think about co up tomorrow?”

“I’ll think about it,” I say

The idea of getting out of ood one, even if o hooes out of her way to make sure that I’ht now But will I be able to keep a grip on ivewith me? That, I’m not so sure about

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Mom asks

“Yeah,” I say “Why?”

She sighs “I don’t know You just sound a little down”

I laugh A little down doesn’t even begin to cover it A little down makes it sound like I lost a balloon or dropped an ice cream cone This is so much more than that “I’m fine”

“Okay,” she says, though it doesn’t sound like she entirely believes me

“I’ll see if I can work things out to come up, and I’ll let you know”

“Sounds good Love you!”

“Love you,” I reply, choking on the words as I hang up

And then I let o Sobs wrack my body as I curl around Ursula I’ve never felt pain like this before, bone deep and splitting me open I hate it And I love it Because if it didn’t hurt, then it wouldn’t have

I let the tears takeout from them The store is closed today—it’s the reason that I’m able to stay in bed But I know that Elle will have her phone on her, and I need her right now More than just to ask if she’ll be okay at the store alone