On the way to school, Lieselotte felt a knot of anxiety twisting in her stomach. What if her mom, Vanessa, showed up out of nowhere? The thought alone made her throat tighten. She could already picture it—Vanessa's cold, judgmental stare, the way her eyes always looked through her, as if there was nothing there to love. Lieselotte wouldn't be able to meet her gaze, not without feeling that familiar ache settle in her chest.
She hadn't gone home in days, and it didn't seem like her absence had even registered. Her father, William, had been ghosting the family group chat as usual. No texts. No missed calls. It was like they'd all silently agreed to forget about each other. And maybe, Lieselotte thought bitterly, they really had. Maybe she wasn't important to them after all.
