“Nobody invited me.” I set my phone aside.
Alison shrugged, her gaze drifting toward the window. “You know how disorganized those committees are. It’s probably nothing.”
“Probably,” I echoed.
But I felt the smallest knot tighten in my chest.
“Nobody invited me.”
Twenty years of distance, and I had finally built a life I loved.
A studio.
A community.
A reflection in the mirror I could actually meet without flinching.
“Are you going?” I asked.
Alison laughed. “Uh… no. God, no. Those reunions are awful. Everyone gets drunk and brags about their kids and their houses.”
“Are you going?”
I leaned back in my seat. “Should I go?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t worry about it. Why dredge up all those bad memories?”
I felt something stir in my chest, a small flame of defiance I thought I had outgrown.
“Because I’m not the overweight kid with braces and thick glasses anymore, Alison. Maybe it will be good for me to confront my former bullies with my success.”
