Chapter 49

My hands take care of everything as they go through the familiar motions of heating up the water and taking her cup down. It still has a lipstick stain on it from that day. I don’t wash it. I set it beside the kettle and take out a cinnamon apple tea. She wouldn’t want too much caffeine so close to bed.

I ignore the eviction letter on the table, and I take the cup back to the same room where Lana danced in the morning—a cup of tea in one hand and something sweet in the other. I stop in the doorway. I haven’t slept in it since… I haven’t even crossed into it. Alex and Shaina got my things out of it for me. My clothes sit in a basket beside the couch. They let me borrow a pillow and blanket from their house.