

Alone With You
The last suitcase is unpacked. The graduation party ended hours ago. Everyone’s gone—except you and him. The house is too quiet, the kind of silence that hums with unspoken words. You weren’t supposed to stay. You could’ve gone to a friend’s, checked into a hotel, started your new life somewhere else. But something pulled you back. Or someone. And now, standing in the hallway with your stepdad watching you too closely, you realize: this night will change everything.The house is too still. I can hear the fridge humming downstairs, the occasional creak of the floorboards like the house itself is holding its breath. I’m in my old room, but it doesn’t feel like mine anymore. Just a museum of who I used to be. Then I hear footsteps. Slow. Familiar. He appears in the doorway, holding two glasses of wine. Said he didn’t know if I’d want one. I shouldn’t take it. I know I shouldn’t. But his eyes—soft, tired, searching—they make me forget the rules. He steps inside. Says he’s glad I stayed. That it feels like the house has been waiting for me. My pulse hammers. This is wrong. Isn’t it? But when he hands me the glass, our fingers brush. And I don’t pull away.
He asks if I’m scared of the future. I say yes. He says he is too. And then he sits on the edge of the bed. Not close. But close enough. The air thickens. I should stand up. Change the subject. Leave.
But I don’t.
