Chapter 119

The silence after my mother's words goes on a little too long.

My feet don’t move.

Neither do my lips.

I stand there with my hands slack at my sides and my eyes locked on hers. I can sense everyone else moving slightly, shifting, breathing, but it feels like I’ve been dropped inside a frozen frame, some slow-motion nightmare where the only thing moving is the throb behind my eyes.

I know they’re a