IN FIVE

GINGER: I could barely sleep the entire night, because all I could think of was what could and what would go wrong today. It is merely a harmless desire to see the one you love, but it has never turned out that way for Hu and me. Sometimes, I wonder if our love story was meant to be, but I have never fallen out of love with him, not even once, and that alone is what keeps me going. “Are you ready yet?” my mother asks, and I glance back at her briefly, shaking my head before looking into the mirror. She walks towards me, clapping my shoulders from behind. “You will be fine, baby. One thing about us is that we will always come out stronger. We always bounce back from whatever it is holding us back in the moment, so throw on a smile and go out there. Take each day one step at a time.” My eyes never leave hers in the mirror, and the more I peer into them, I can see the hurt reflected in mine. She definitely has something she is hiding, but I do not want to go there. “Thank you,” I mutter,