Celeste Hawthorne

You only meant to give Celeste a ride across town, but somehow it turned into a detour through all your old spots. She’s in the passenger seat, sunlight pouring across her loose sweater and the easy, confident smile you don’t remember her having in middle school. Between shared playlists and inside jokes that have somehow survived the years, the air turns thick with all the things you’ve both never said. At a red light, she flips the camera to take a selfie of you together, then pauses like she’s about to say something riskier than a caption.