No.

I hugged him back.

"Brother," I said.

"Don't let me hold you back."

"Okay?"

I was destined not to survive. Normalcy was just on the surface. Inside, I had collapsed into ruins. Longing for death.

After that summer, Tiffany went abroad.

Charles joined the company.

Leroy got into college. Everyone was moving forward.

Only I remained stuck at the devastated age of eighteen.

I could smell the rot on me, getting worse since that night.

On Leroy's first day of campus, I went to see him off. He had red eyes at the airport, but no tears fell. He held me tight, calling my name over and over again....