Inversion [Camp NaNoWriMo July 2021]

day xlvi

d a y   x l v i

Five days later, we say goodbye.

Cian and I take a cab to the airport, where Jeremy's already waiting with Mom and Dad.

I've stayed with Cian ever since waking up. Jeremy wasn't happy with it, but he understood. Mom and Dad were even more upset, but I couldn't muster up any guilt about that. I don't think Dad and I will ever truly reconcile. And as for Mom ... it'll take time, but for now all I can think about is how she'd abandoned me after the accident, had let herself sink into her own grief and turn a blind eye to me and Dad.

Dad doesn't try to talk to me, but I give Mom a quick hug. She holds me tightly for a few short seconds, familiar warmth mixed with the unfamiliar pressure of her thin arms after nearly seven weeks of barely eating, mourning first Jeremy and then me. The thought thaws any lingering resentment I feel, and I squeeze back.

Mom, Dad, and Jeremy move a few feet away to give me and Cian some privacy. They know that I've been staying with him, but I didn't bother explaining the extent of our friendship. What they know, or think they know, about what happened the past month, I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't really matter. We're all trying to leave things in the past.

Cian hands me my bag and suitcase. I don't know what to say. What there's left to say. He seems equally at a loss for words.

I set my bag down and lean in to wrap my arms around him. "I'm going to miss you."

"Me too." He kisses the top of my head. I wonder if he's unsettled by my blonde hair and tan skin. I still haven't gotten used to it again. "No matter what happens—who you might meet—come say hi if you're ever back." It comes out more as a question than a statement.

"I will," I promise.

There's not much left to say, so I kiss him one last time and say goodbye before walking towards Jeremy, where he's waiting to join the security line.

"Ready?" I nod, and he gives me a bright smile. "You're going to love New York."

I don't look back. "I know I will."