The air smelled like popcorn and sunscreen, and both girls had rainbow ice cream melting down their wrists.
Lizzy giggled, cheeks sticky. “Mommy, you put popcorn in my cone again!”
I grinned, scooping up the dropped pieces. “You told me that’s how you like it, remember?”
Junie, mouth full, chimed in, “She only likes it because she saw me do it first.”
Lizzy stuck out her tongue. “Nu-uh, I invented it!”
“You told me that’s how you like it, remember?”
We laughed, loud and real. There was no heaviness, only the buzz of kids running wild, the music of their voices. I pulled out the new disposable camera, lilac this time, picked by both girls in the grocery aisle.
It had become our tradition. We’d fill drawers with blurry photos: sticky hands, messy grins, and snapshots of a life reclaimed.
“Smile, you two!” I called.
They pressed their cheeks together, arms flung around each other, both shouting, “Cheese!” I snapped the picture, heart brimming.
It had become our tradition.
Junie flopped into my lap. “Mom, are we going to get all the camera colors? We need green and blue and —”
Lizzy tugged my sleeve. “And yellow! That’s for summer.”
I ruffled their hair, feeling so present it almost hurt. “We’ll use every color. That’s a promise.”
My phone buzzed. It was a text from Michael about the delayed child support. I stared at it, thumb hovering, but then looked at the girls tangled at my side.
He’d made his choice a long time ago. We were done waiting for him.
“That’s a promise.”
These moments were ours now.
I wound the camera and grinned. “Alright, who wants to race to the swings?”
Sneakers pounded and laughter spilled out, mine mixed with theirs as we ran.
No one could give me back the years I lost.
But from here on out, every memory was mine to make. And no one would ever steal another day.
I thought the hardest part of surviving the fire was learning to live with the scars it left behind. But after one night at prom, everything that I thought I knew about my past changed.
I was nine when the fire happened.
I woke up coughing, surrounded by smoke so thick I couldn’t see my bedroom door. Somewhere upstairs, my mom was screaming my name. By the time firefighters got us out, the kitchen had been destroyed, and parts of my face, neck, and arm were burned badly enough to leave scars that never fully faded.
Over the years, you get used to your reflection in the mirror.
I woke up coughing.
***
The harder part was growing up with people staring at me all the time. Nobody at school openly said cruel things, but I always noticed the looks, whispers, and questions. It hurt.
But by my senior year, I’d gotten good at acting as if it didn’t bother me.
So when prom came around, I told my mom I didn’t want to go.
“You can’t hide forever, Cindy,” she said. “One bad thing already changed your life once. Don’t let it keep deciding things for you. Prom happens once in a lifetime.”
Eventually, she wore me down.
I’d gotten good at acting as if it didn’t bother me.
***
We bought a dress, curled my hair, and I spent an hour doing makeup that mostly covered the scars on my neck.
But the second I walked into prom, I regretted attending.
The gym looked beautiful. Lights hung from the ceiling, and music blasted through the speakers. But all my classmates were taking photos, dancing, and laughing without me, as if I didn’t exist.
I stood alone near the drinks table, pretending to text people who weren’t texting me.
After almost an hour, I was ready to leave.
Then Caleb walked over.
I regretted attending.
Everybody knew Caleb. He was in my class: popular, tall, handsome, and the football captain. The kind of guy girls whispered about constantly, which made it even stranger when he stopped in front of me, looking nervous.
Then he held out his hand and asked, “Would you please dance with me?”
I honestly thought he was joking, but he wasn’t.
So I took his hand.
The second he led me onto the dance floor, people stared. I caught girls whispering. A few guys looked completely shocked.
Caleb ignored all of them.
So I took his hand.
We danced all night. Somewhere along the way, I stopped feeling invisible. Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.
Caleb made me laugh and treated me normally.
By the end of the night, I didn’t even want prom to end anymore.
Afterward, Caleb walked me home instead of leaving with his friends.
“You had fun tonight?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “More than I expected!”
He smiled, but something about him seemed distracted, as if there were something he wanted to say but couldn’t quite get out.
Everyone kept staring at us, but I didn’t care.
When we reached my house, we stood awkwardly on the porch steps.
“Thanks for tonight,” I said.
Caleb shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded.
Then he looked at me seriously and said, “I’ll see you.”
We said our goodbyes, then he walked away.
***
The following morning, loud banging shook the front door.
I came downstairs half asleep and immediately froze.
We stood awkwardly on the porch steps.
My mom had answered, and I saw her talking to the police.
I walked closer and saw that beside them on our porch were Caleb’s parents.
Everyone turned towards me.
A knot formed in my stomach.
One of the officers stepped forward. “Cindy, when was the last time you saw Caleb?”
“Last night after prom.”
“Did he say where he was going afterward?”
I shook my head slowly. “No. Why? Officer, did something happen?”
The officers exchanged glances.
Everyone turned towards me.
Then one of them asked something that made my stomach drop even harder.
“Miss, do you really not know what Caleb has done?”
I stared at him. “What?”
The officer spoke carefully.
“Our department recently reopened several old reports connected to incidents from years ago to get resolutions. During that process, Caleb admitted he was near your house the night of the fire almost 10 years ago.”
For a second, I couldn’t even process the words.
“What do you mean he was there?”
“Miss, do you really not know.”
The officer took a breath.
“You need to listen to me and try not to stress about it. Caleb witnessed something connected to your house fire when he was nine years old.”
I stared at him.
“What kind of something?”
Before the officer could answer, Caleb’s father suddenly spoke.
“He never meant for any of this to happen.”
His voice sounded strained, almost desperate.
“You need to listen to me.”
