When I wake up, she’s gone.
It’s like having a claw hammer buried in my skull.
I dive out of bed with a bellow, clutching at the sheets like I’m going to find her hidden in there. Where the hell did she go? Where the f**k did she go?
The anger has returned with a vengeance in her absence.
I scratch at my chest until blood shows up in angry welts. When she was in my arms, the snakes were kept at bay. Now she’s gone and they’re bigger, more vicious.
“Stella!”
I rampage through my apartment, knocking trophies off shelves. Pictures of me with the university president, the governor. People who mean nothing to me.
There’s just her now. There’s only her.
Just before I reach the kitchen, I stumble to a stop in front of a picture of my father. Standing beside me as confetti rains down, the
