Chapter 29

My heart was pounding inside my chest. My breath was caught in my lungs. I couldn't believe she was there; she couldn't be there; it had to be my imagination. I tried to speak, but no words came out of my mouth. Tears quickly blurred my vision, making her familiar face blurry in my eyes.

"Anaís," she pronounced my name perfectly. Her voice was like a shot straight to the pain in my chest, opening it, unleashing it.

I wanted to say something, but I couldn't. When I breathed again, it was just a gasping inhalation of air.

My best friend was in front of me, the person I loved most after my family, the one who had always been there, the one I hadn’t seen in months.

"Anaís, Ja—" I held up my hand as a signal for her not to speak. Words weren't necessary. Her eyes were also filled with tears, her hands shaking at her sides, which meant that she knew.

She knew what had happened.

I held my chest tightly and exhaled a little air. I couldn't breathe properly; there was a lump in my throat