She’d spent her whole life trying to gain her mother’s approval, her mother’s love, and she’d barely noticed anything else around her. Of course, she knew her friends were there for her, but again, it was as though her head and heart were in constant dissonance—she knew they loved her, but she hadn’t let them love her the way she needed to. She hadn’t let it be enough. But it was. Astrid Parker was loved, no matter what her mother thought of her. No matter what choices she made. And that love gave her the courage to choose herself.
