I roll my eyes. Letting me go. Maybe she could trust me to make my own decisions instead of trying to micromanage everything. I know she’s trying to be nice, but all I hear in her words is relief that I might finally develop some actual talent, mixed with her lack of belief that I could possibly accomplish anything meaningful for the Families. Kor said this is the most important thing the Families have ever done, and yet my mom just sees me as an errand girl.

She would think that since I’ve never lived up to her standards of excellence. She is the ultimate perfectionist; from her looks, to her nutritional intake, to the phrasing of her text messages—everything must be perfect, perfect, perfect. Anything less than exceptional is failure.

To be fair, she’s never directly said that to me, but it’s clearly the standard she holds herself to, so I just assume she already sees me as a sunk cost.

Even so, I hug her tighter.

Our hug is cut short when her phone buzzes informing her of some meeting of great importance. With one last kiss, she rushes off.

I turn to watch the street from the gallery’s glass doors, wiping away some pre-homesickness mist from my eyes. The sidewalks teem with bundled-up pedestrians clutching paper cups as they rush to meet the day. I should be one of them. School resumed at the beginning of this week, and it’s weird to realize I may never go back to the familiar grind of math tests to bomb and books I only pretend to read. I wonder if I’ll regret missing my graduation.

I’ve been expecting a vehicle, so Michael takes me by surprise when he’s suddenly on the other side of the glass, on foot, his floppy hair alive with wind. I push open the door.

“Hi,” he says with a dimpled smile.

If he wonders why I asked him to meet me at a random gallery instead of my home, he doesn’t mention it. All our interactions are being observed through security cameras so that the rest of the Inner Chamber can overanalyze everything about Michael.

“Ready to go?” he asks awkwardly.

“Not in the slightest,” I respond as I step out into the brisk morning, winding my scarf around my face to protect myself from the biting wind.