The Other Side of Disappearing

by Kate Clayborn

Salem still has that light in her eyes, and for a second I wonder if she had an instinct something was off, too. If in fact we’re here because of that instinct.

I don’t really know if all teenagers are like Tegan. But I do know that sometimes, the hardest, most heartbreaking moments with her are the ones where I’m reminded that all her flintiness, all her toughness and sarcasm and attitude is only a front. A cover for her tender vulnerability, a cover for the fact that there’s a part of her—a big, beating part—that’s still desperate for approval. From a woman who left her ten years ago.

I’ve always known Jess is a vault when she wants to be. When she needs to be. Now, her mother is getting to watch as she fully locks down.

“I’m always going to have your heart, Jessie. Because you gave it to me so completely, and yours taught me how to make my own. But I think—I think I need to give yours back to you now. I think you need it, because I think it’s high time you get to share it with someone else.”