likes control
doesn’t talk unless it’s necessary
probably edits in silence
not impressed by charm
problem
The word sat at the bottom, small and devastating.
Tilly’s brain lagged half a second behind what their eyes were telling them. Savannah kept talking, unaware.
“I swear I bought basil,” she said. “It’s like it walked out.”
Tilly looked up slowly.
“What is this?” they asked.
Savannah turned. Took in their face. The phone in their hand.
“Oh,” she said quietly.
That single syllable felt like confirmation.
“What is it?” Tilly asked again, softer now, because their chest had started to hurt.
Savannah set the spoon down carefully. Wiped her hands on a dish towel that didn’t need it. “It’s old. It’s not what it looks like.”
“It looks like a list about me,” Tilly said. “With the word problem at the bottom.”
Savannah took a step toward them. “I wrote it so long ago. When things were messy. When I was trying to talk myself out of something I didn’t think I was allowed to want.”
“You didn’t delete it,” Tilly said.
Her mouth opened. Closed. “I forgot it was there.”
