d cardboard boxes and began to empty my drawers. Each item held a memory, a piece of the fifteen

ion Invitation." My heart skipped a beat. This was it. The dream I had held onto since I was a little girl, the one I had told Ethan ab

onths ago, on a whim, during a rare moment of optimism. They w

peace I found was in my small bedroom, listening to the radio. The calm, soothing voices of the late-night hosts were my escape. They made me feel less alone. One night, after a particularly bad figh

n a heavy book that missed my head but hit the wall next to my ear. The impact had caused permanen

A chance to finally become the person I was meant to be. I wasn't

ere." I felt a surge of adrenaline, a flick

Ethan and me since we were kids. "Chloe! Ethan! So good to see you two," he said, beaming. "We' r

e show. It was a simple love song that ha

r Yu," I said politely. "W

mile on his face. He had been avoiding me since the

. "Oh, that' s a shame. Everyo

t of the house. We sat in the back, and I tried to make myself invisible. Then, the host announced

was Vivian, looking frail and beautiful in a flowing white dress. She smi

ivian started to sing. Their voices blended together, singing the words that were once mine. The words he had once sung only to me. It felt like a public execution of our entire h