It was fine.
I had always been okay. So long as I had my violin, I was perfectly content.
Reading, my other joy, my escape, usually eased my mind too.
And yet...
I was still reading. I was diligent about PT. I hadn't missed a day of exercises or an appointment. Having gotten the okay from my doctor, I was even starting to play again. Her exact words were "Don't overdo it. Listen to your body, and if it hurts, stop." So, I was taking it slowly, starting with scales and simple songs to ease back into it. But I was able to make music again. I had a violin in my hand which—regardless of the piece or the complexity—always felt like greeting an old, beloved friend.
That feeling was still there.
Playing again felt like breathing after being under water.
My heart was still on fire for the music and instrument that I loved.
But...
Something was missing.
I feared, as the days went on, I knew exactly what that something was.
There was a hole in my chest that hadn't been there before the summer.
And it was shaped like a Stone.
Tolliver.
Tolliver.
Tolliver.
The name was a whisper in my mind when I went to sleep and an ache in my chest when I woke for some early morning reading, and he wasn't there. A thrill of hope when my phone pinged with a text and the burn of disappointment when it wasn't from him.
How could one person's absence make me feel so...much?
Again, it was crazy.
I would not be that girl.
I needed a distraction, and luckily, one came in the form of my cousin.
Scarlett called—which was strange.
Usually, we would text unless it was for our Kent cousin check-in, something we'd only instated recently due to everyone being everywhere but wanting to keep in touch. The frown she wore when I picked up wasn't encouraging.
"Hey," I said. "What?—"
"I'm worried about Aurora," she said.
It was enough to snap me out of whatever weird malaise I'd been in since Tolliver left.
"They're really going after her online, and I don't like it."
My scowl was instant. "Who is?"
"Mean people, internet trolls, bots, I don't know, Frey. It's in one of those online groups. You know, for AF or Ferora or whatever people are calling them now."
I did know.
