Chapter 119 Gardenia

• I'm halfway across the parking lot when her voice calls out behind me. There's an immediate war inside me, my heart and body demanding I stop and my brain screaming at me to run.
• My steps slow, and I hate myself a little when I stop. Gardenia's sneakers smack against the tarmac as she jogs up behind me.
• It's dark outside, the stars glittering above. The parking lot is mostly empty, with only a few trucks and cars parked in the shadows, and the trees that tower along the edges of the lot cast spiky patches of darkness against the sky.