Lenore almost had everything she wanted.
In just a few short months, she'd graduate early from high school, start an internship at her father's new startup in San Francisco, and then head off to college in the fall on a full scholarship. Everything...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Lenore rifled through the fridge, searching for her usual breakfast—yogurt and a protein shake. There weren't any other options. Everything in her mother's fridge was pre-made and packaged.
"You're up early."
Tearing her gaze away from her yogurt options—vanilla or peach, as they were out of her favourite, mixed berry—Lenore peered around the edge of the fridge door.
Her mother was standing there, dressed head-to-toe in matching activewear. "And here I thought I was going to have to drag you out of bed again."
"Why?" Lenore grumbled, going back to the fridge. "I've gotten to school on my own just fine for the past two weeks."
"That's true. I guess I was expecting you to put up more of a fight."
Lenore shrugged and selected the vanilla yogurt. Peach tasted weird with her chocolate protein shake, anyway. She took her meagre breakfast to the table. It was too early to get into it with her mother. Ever since her mother had disappeared on her after her first day of school, Lenore had been keeping her distance. They lived like roommates, more strangers than family.
Her mother didn't seem to get the hint, or maybe she didn't care because she sat down across from her. "I'm glad to see you settling in."
"Mhm," Lenore said, unscrewing the cap of her shake.
"How's school been?"
"It's been fine," she said with another shrug. And it had. After the initial shock of her appearance wore off, the stares and whispers that followed her for the first few days quickly disappeared. Most of her classmates had resigned to simply avoiding her—including Reese, thankfully. But avoidance was better than the alternative, so she'd take it.
At least she had Victor.
He always waved at her in the hall. Sometimes he'd even stop to talk between the classes when they ran into each other at the lockers. It was starting to feel like they were friends. Almost.
Working with him had been the first slice of something good she'd had since she'd arrived. She was grateful for it, though she didn't know what she was going to do when their project was over—
The instant she thought of him, her mother's blue eyes narrowed. Her icy blue eyes were piercing as she studied her daughter's features as if she could see straight through them. Lenore did her best to keep her expression from giving anything away. Instead, she looked away and focused on chugging back her shake. It was gross, but it was all there was.
"You know, if I didn't know any better," her mother continued, "I'd think you were enjoying yourself."
Lenore nearly spat out the chocolate shake. She managed to swallow it back, but not without a coughing fit. "Not really," she sputtered quickly. "I just want to get it over with."
