18th birthday 13

Chapter 7 

In my second year abroad, Roderick had started to ease up. He no longer kept such a close eye on me. 

That was when I met a teacher from back home. Her name was Blair Wade, and she was an exceptional therapist. During one of my depressive episodes, I booked a session with her. 

I told her about the feelings I had developed for Roderick. Once I said it aloud, I couldn’t even bring myself to look her in the eye. 

I was sure she’d be disgusted. Everyone else was, after all. 

But she wasn’t. Instead, Blair offered quiet reassurance and encouraged me to work through the emotions that had been weighing me down. 

More than that, she walked me through the process. She even showed me pictures of her son, Danny. 

He was just a baby at the time, and she was already divorced. However, one thing was certain–she loved him wholeheartedly. 

During that period, Blair helped me more than I could put into words. Slowly, I began to climb out of that dark place, and things started to look up. 

Until the night the fire broke out. 

I had been listening to music with my headphones in, the volume cranked all the way up. As a result, I didn’t hear the alarm going off.