Dr. Hall’s office smelled like lavender and fresh paper when I walked in. It was the kind of scent that made you feel like you could finally unclench the parts of yourself you didn’t even know were tense.
I had come to think of her office as my safe space.
Infact, it had been almost two weeks since I’d last been here, but the moment I stepped inside, everything felt familiar again — the couch with its ridiculous number of throw pillows, the softly humming air purifier, and the old tabby cat, Charlie, lounging on the window ledge like it owned the place.
I closed the door gently behind me, my reflection flashing briefly in the glass frame by the shelf — messy curls, faint makeup, oversized hoodie (Ryans’s, obviously). I looked… different. Lighter, somehow.
The last time I was here, I h
