her small heart racing against my chest, and I walked out of the hall without saying a single word to the people I shared blood with.
As the heavy doors began to swing shut, I heard Clare’s voice calling after me, sharp and annoyed: “Honestly, Denise, stop making such a scene!” I glanced back only once. The room was silent now, the other parents looking on in uncomfortable shock. Five extinguished, smoking candles leaned sideways in the blue frosting of the mangled cake. My mother stood there with a satisfied,
