28

~Faye

I regret leaving T’s in the way I did.

Not because I feel bad that I completely rejected a potential kiss, but because I had to wander back home with bare feet, in sweatpants that are much too long for my legs, with rain drizzling down at a constant pace. By the time I made it back home, I wanted to collapse into the shower, then into bed to sleep off every memory.

Instead, I walk up the path to see a multitude of Guards standing post outside. When one sees me, she stands forward, bows her head, and waits for me to admit my confusion.

“What’s going on?” I ask. Never do I have this many Guards out like this. Not in the rain, and not on a Sunday, when many are preparing for their weekly ritual