SAMANTHA
It was College Move-in Day and the day I used to dream about.
It was the epitome of freedom to me. Freedom from my mother’s tirades. Freedom from the unhappiness in the house. Freedom from her highs and lows. Freedom from her. Even when we’d first moved in with Mason and Logan, I’d still longed for when I could go away to college. That was the last link in the chain. Mason and Logan protected me from her, but I hadn’t been physically free from her until James took her to a hospital. College was the final breakaway from her, and here I was.
I was free. Finally and for real.
Mason and I walked past a mother and daughter hugging each other with tears in their eyes. That wasn’t me. I was on cloud nine. Malinda offered to come, but I didn’t want her and David to wait one more day f
