Two months prior, my brother Dylan had introduced me to Asher. Dylan had been about to leave for his semester abroad. “Asher’s my best friend,” Dylan had told me. Turning to Asher, he said, “I need you to take care of Cynthia for me while I’m gone.” I bristled with annoyance. Dylan was so overpr

“I’m sorry.”I had to get out. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. I shouldn’t be here.” I dropped my number slip into the trash and ran to the door. Outside, with the hospital doors sliding closed behind me, I shut my eyes and finally allowed myself to breathe again. Now I was connected with my

“How did you do all this?” I asked Asher. Asher shrugged. “Joseph uses the same, weak password for all of his social media accounts. You’d think someone with so much to hide might have taken a bigger interest in security. Hacking in was child’s play.” It couldn’t have been as simple as he made i

But then, he never looked happy about anything. “Think what you want,” he said briskly, like a dismissal. “I will,” I snapped. “Fine.” Silence settled around us again. I wondered if I should have walked out, but Asher’s body stood between me and the door. He didn’t move, so he likely wasn’t

I spoke through sniffles, “I’m going to drop out of the Academy to have my baby. I can’t do both.” “Oh, no, Cynthia.” To my surprise, Nancy started to cry too. “You’ve worked so hard, you’ve sacrificed so much to apply to that college. If you leave now, you won’t be able to go back.” “I know,” I