ONE LAST TEXT
"I don't know. I used to have this whole plan. Scholarship, specific school, specific major, the whole track laid out since sophomore year. Now I just think about getting through the next appointment, the next test result for Jordan's mom, the next conversation with you that doesn't end in a fight. Everything past that feels like a different person's life."
"Yeah," I said quietly. "I know exactly what that feels like."
He was quiet for a moment, turning something over, and I watched him almost say something, his mouth opening slightly before he stopped himself, some private calculation working behind his eyes that I couldn't read.
"What," I asked.
"Nothing." He shook his head, a small, almos