What I wasn’t expecting was the laughter that emanated from the good doctor, whether at my mother’s stubbornness or my fighting stance, I wasn’t sure. What surprised me even more was the way my insides did a belly flop, filling me with all the palm-sweating anxiety I hadn’t suffered since my teenage years. Was I still so concerned about what others thought of me that a little laughter could turn me inside out? I wanted to believe I’d matured, but the evidence wasn’t on my side. What else could explain the sudden, overwhelming self-consciousness I experienced the moment Nora Kenworthy so much
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