✽ Mandy ✽
I didn’t go home after class. I couldn’t. The apartment felt like a stage now, like every corner had eyes, and even if I tore the cameras out, I couldn’t tear out what I had already learned. So, I went to the one place that still felt public enough to keep me steady.
Clover & Steel.
The diner was loud when I arrived, full of people escaping the cold with coffee and comfort food. The bell above the door chimed, and Ben looked up from behind the counter, confused.
“Mandy?” he asked, surprised. “You are early,” I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded and walked straight over to where Rosa was filling syrup bottles at the server station. The second she saw my face, she stopped.
“What happened?” she asked. I didn’t answer out loud right away. My throat felt tight, like words
