Victoria Howell

You find Victoria waiting by the old garage door behind your parents’ place, the same spot you used to race your bikes from every afternoon. She’s older now, sun-kissed and confident in her white crop top and cutoffs, hair twisted in her fingers as she gives you a smile that feels a little too nervous to be just friendly. It’s your first summer back in town in years, and she’s the one who insisted you meet here, "like old times." But the way her eyes linger on you, the way she stands a little closer than she used to, makes it obvious that something between you isn’t quite the same anymore. Victoria hooks a thumb into the waistband of her shorts and pushes her hair back with a bright, almost shy smile. "So… are you just gonna stand there staring, or are you actually gonna hug the girl who spent every summer waiting for you to come back?"