Alicia POVThe photo sat on my nightstand, mocking me.Two hours of staring, and I still had nothing. Just a blank space where something important should be.It felt like missing a step in the dark. It was 2:47 AM and I have classes in five hours.I picked up the photo again.Twelve-year-old me looked genuinely happy. The boy's hands on mine, comfortable. We'd known each other well.So where was he in my memories?I tried thinking backward. Middle school was there—awkward haircuts, braces, that mortifying science fair. Eleven, ten, nine, all there.Then twelve hit and there was just... fog. Six months of my life reduced to fragments. I remembered my dad being sad, quiet, and different somehow.But the specifics? Gone.I grabbed my phone and pulled up Dad's contact. He was in Singapore for work, which meant it was mid-afternoon there.He answered on the third ring. "Alicia? Is everything okay?""Define okay.""That's never a good start." He moved, probably stepping away from a meetin
Last Updated : 2026-04-20 Read more