JASMINE
My twentieth birthday was three days after the alpha ceremony. It was the perfect fall day—the trees in northern Vermont had turned into a palette of red, orange, and yellow, and the weather had now cooled. I had the day off from work and spent it on schoolwork. It wasn’t a very exciting birthday, but I wanted to be sure I stayed ahead in school.
At four in the afternoon, while my parents were at work, I heard the doorbell chime. descended the stairs to the first floor and looked out the window to see that Blake was waiting on the doorstep. I took a deep breath and opened the door, wondering why he was here.
“Happy birthday.” He smiled, engulfing me in a hug. I patted his back, unsure of his presence and confused by how he was acting as if he hadn’t ignored my existence for three weeksbefore he bumped into me at the gym. Four if we included the past week, especially after having been so intimate and confessing his secrets to me. I felt a pang in my heart, hurt by how he expe
