A nervous shiver runs through me as I explain how my happy place has always been the diner. My mom and dad opened it before we were born, and I loved being there all the time. Even though it was usually full of people, I still had my slice of peace in the midst of it all. Those weeks that Eli and I worked together made me realize a few things, the main one being that the booth wasn’t the only thing that could calm my nerves. He could too. I’m still not sure what it was about him, but even though I still experienced my typical shyness, I always felt safe. Unjudged. Free to be me. So when I
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