It was strange. She never spoke about her past to outsiders.
"I used to be in the same boat," Juniper replied evenly.
"Used to be?" Coralie tilted her head, wondering if the alcohol was making her delirious.
"Yeah." Juniper chewed her bubblegum, her expression calm. "But they came back to life."
Well, not entirely. She still hadn't found her parents or her sixth sister. She wasn't entirely sure they were all alive.
"Wait." Coralie rubbed her temples. She definitely drank too much. Her brain was completely fried. She was having auditory hallucinations.
"I found my family later on," Juniper explained, blowing a massive bubble.
The moment it popped, she regretted saying it. Wouldn't that just make Coralie feel worse?
"That's amazing." Coralie looked at Juniper with pure envy, a complex mix of joy and deep loneliness swirling in her eyes. "Ms. Payne, you have incredible luck."
"It's not that great," Juniper said, staring back at her with absolute sincerity. A heavy knot tightened in her chest.
She was terrified that Director Evans would never wake up from his coma. And she was even more terrified... that her sixth sister really had died in that fire.
"You have to keep looking forward."
Coralie brushed her long hair over her shoulder, her gaze fixed on Juniper's face. "The ones left behind have to live well. Don't you think?"
She was smiling, but the overhead streetlamp caught the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes.
Tch. Look at me, a complete tragic mess, trying to comfort someone else, Coralie thought mockingly.
"Who was in your family?" Juniper asked, genuinely curious.
"My family?" Coralie paused, about to answer, when a man suddenly stumbled toward them from the shadows.
He was clearly drunk, swaying heavily on his feet.

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