-Vaughn Blackmore:
I stepped out of the bedroom and shut the door behind me a little too carefully, as if I made too much noise, it would somehow make everything worse than it already was.
The hallway outside felt colder than it should have.
Or maybe it was just me.
I walked a few steps away from the door before stopping, then lowered myself onto the ground without really thinking. My shoulders were still tight, my body still carrying that weird leftover tension from the morning like it hadn't fully figured out how to reset itself yet.
My face was burning.
I already knew it before I even touched it.
Heat creeping up my neck, my ears, my cheeks—everything. I pressed my hand briefly against my face anyway, like that would somehow make it go away, but it didn't help at all. If anything, it just made it worse because now I was actively acknowledging it.
I couldn't stop replaying it.
"Thank you for stopping me."
"Forget that happened."
The way I said it.
