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Epilogue - From the journal of Christina Melendez - Davenport: November 22

Brian took me to the beach today. Not the one next to Davenport, but another one called San Gregorio. It's further up the coast, a really nice, long beach where you can walk, like... over a mile. It's quiet and perfect for what I needed. I still need to pull myself together. It's going to take a while. I'll burn up a lot of Dr. Hartman's schedule before all this is done. I can say that, for sure.

Brian's been supportive. If I'm able to get through all this, a lot of it will be because of him. He's there for me, but hasn't pushed me for answers. I'm grateful for that, because right now I don't have any answers.

I'm still not ready to talk about Yvonne. When I do, I'm guessing he'll be the only person I'll ever be able to share it with. Well, other than Dr. Hartman, obviously. Before I do that, I'm gonna have to know for sure I can trust him, totally and completely. That's going to take a while. I think he understands that.

I'm not going to visit my grandparents this Christmas. Mom had some sort of fight with them, so she and Dad are going to a party at a restaurant on top of some fancy hotel instead. I suppose Mom will get drunk. She usually does at those things. Like, I'd want to see that. No thanks.

When he found out I wasn't going home, Brian asked me if I'd want to spend Winter Break with him and his family. I thought about it.

"Sure. I'd like that. I kinda need to get away from Davenport for a few days anyway."

I hugged him. It was the first time I had been able to show any affection to anyone since Halloween.

It was getting late, so we needed to go back to the parking lot. We walked south along the water's edge as the sun set. We got dressed and got into his car. Then we drove south to Davenport, just as the sky started to get dark.


2 Streakers