Amelia was lost in herself, she forgot that she wasn't alone in the restroom.
"You're trying to reject yourself before anyone else can."
Lara's gentle voice startled her.
"It feels safer. But it's still cowardice."
Amelia flinched.
Cowardice. The truth stung worse than the gossip. Because it felt accurate. Indeed, she was a coward.
All her life, she'd always stepped back, always stayed quiet, let others take what they wanted.
And now she was about to give Liam away, too.
Without him even asking.
Tears spilled silently down her cheeks.
"I don't know how to be strong," she admitted.
Not dramatically.
"I don't know how people like Summer do it. Or you. I… I don't know how to fight for anything."
Her voice dissolved into the air.
"I think… if someone pushes me a little harder… I'll just disappear."
And in that moment, she truly looked like she might.
Like a person fading at the edges.
"Better than being unwanted."
A cold and heavy silence, hung in the air.
