chapter 20

Gannon The evening unfolds with a gravity that weighs heavily on my heart. Abbie sits across from me, her usually radiant face now clouded with doubt and self-loathing. I know she doesn’t believe my words; the compliments that I bestow upon her seem to dissolve before they can truly reach her heart. But I’m determined, resolved to remind her every day of the beauty I see in her until she sees it in herself. Still, I can’t help but feel a pang of sadness as I watch her pick at her fingers. I wish she could see herself through my eyes, see the way her laughter lights up a room, the way her eyes sparkle when she talks about her passions, the way her heart is so full of love for others. But tonight, she is lost in her own darkness, unable to see the light that shines within her. And so, I continue to speak words of love and admiration, hoping that someday she will believe them and see herself as the beautiful, deserving woman she truly is. As the sun dips, leaving the sky draped in darknes