I stood in front of my mirror once more, but instead of trying on a million outfits like before, this time I was wearing whatever the hell I was wearing. The clothes that made me feel comfortable. I walked over to the window of my tiny apartment in the heart of the city and looked at the succulent leaves on the windowsill; they’d all started growing little baby plants. I picked up my bottle of water and gave them a small spray. Soon their leaves would dry up completely and fall off, and they would be ready to start their new journeys . . . kind of like me.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Vicki, Vicki, Vicki, with her planty analogies that made so much sense that it was scary and kind of unnerving. She and I had continued our sessions via Zoom, although she said I was ready to face the world without her and our work together was coming to an end. But to commemorate it, and the work we’d done together, I had a surprise to show her in our next session. I looked down at my arm and rolled my sleeve up, running my fingertips over the echeveria I’d had tattooed on my forearm. It was healing nicely, but damn it had hurt!

Zac loved the tattoo, though. I’d shown him over one of our regular FaceTimes. He was now obsessed with the idea of getting a tattoo and had been drawing stars, snakes, and Egyptian symbols all over himself. He was very much obsessed with ancient Egypt and Tutankhamun now, and was currently making up his own hieroglyphic language. He’s such a genius. I miss him so much, but I think me being gone has been good for him in many ways. He’s learned to be a bit more independent—the other day he was so excited to tell me that he’d taken his water bottle with him all by himself, and carried it the entire time he was out. That might not sound like a lot for some, but trust me, that’s huge for Zac. He’s also started trying different color foods. I was so proud of him.

I was excited and nervous for my first day at university—more excited, though, especially since I’d gotten a message from Thembi the night before saying she was packing her bags and was also on the way to Paris. She’d gotten into fashion school and had finally told her parents. After a big fight, many tears, and a lot of talking about feelings, her parents had agreed she should go and follow her dreams. I was so excited to see her; I’d missed her.