"I am brave," Liza lied to herself. "I am brave, and I can do this."
It was just outside. Literally, all she had to do was step out onto the porch. That was all she'd wanted to do. That was it. Just enough to prove to herself that she could, and that she wasn't as damaged as she'd first thought.
That was all.
"I'm brave." But her fingers trembled as she lifted her hand to open the door, and it took four tries before she managed to even turn the knob.
She pulled slightly, and the door cracked open an inch. Then another, then another, then—
Was that a car engine?
No!
She slammed the door shut, flicking every single lock before retreating upstairs, to the safety of her bedroom. Grabbing a blanket from the bed, she burrowed within it and huddled in the farthest corner of the room, watching the door with wide, petrified eyes.
Time slipped by, as it always did, and the room was dark by the time her heart had calmed and she felt mildly sane once more.
Only, the more she calmed, the easier it became to think back on what had caused her panic in the first place, and she wanted to burst into tears all over again when she realized an undeniable, terrible fact:
She wasn't brave at all.
YOU ARE READING
The Expansion of the Universe
Romance"My name's Elijah, by the way. It's nice to meet you, window-girl." She liked that name: Elijah. "I doubt you're even listening, but, look, I'm not here to cause problems, you know? I'm just here to chat. It can get lonely when we segregate ourselv...
