Genevieve’s POVI straightened slightly, smoothing my cardigan, slipping fully into the shape I wore every day here—the harmless one. “Hi! My name is Genevieve,” I said calmly. “I’m a library assistant.” I gestured to the desk behind me, the scanner, the neatly stacked returns. Ordinary. Safe. “How can I help you?”The question hung between us.Hazel didn’t answer right away. She just stared. Too long. Her eyes searched my face with something bordering on panic, as if she were waiting for me to say something else. Something truer. Something that would crack the world open.I didn’t.Eventually, she swallowed hard and looked away, dragging a breath into her lungs like she’d just surfaced from deep water.“I—sorry,” she said quickly. “I thought you were someone else. You look so… ”She trailed off, shaking her head in disbelief. Then, as if the thought burst free before she could stop it, she blurted, “You’re American.”I lifted an eyebrow.“I mean—your English,” she rushed on, color
Read more