moneymonkey699
The summer air hung heavy with the scent of wildflowers and the hum of cicadas. The world was alive, yet Mira felt detached from it, like she was watching everything from behind a fogged window. She sat in the passenger seat of Seb's jeep, the wind pulling at her hair, her fingers gripping the edge of the seat as the tires bounced over the uneven dirt road.
"Come on, M," Seb said, his voice full of that reckless confidence she'd grown so used to. "You've got to learn to loosen up."
She forced a smile, hoping he wouldn't notice how tightly her knuckles gripped the door. "I'm fine, Seb."
But she wasn't fine. Not even close. Something felt off-not just today, but in general. Seb's laugh filled the air, loud and carefree, but it grated against her nerves. She was tired of pretending everything was okay. Tired of being the easy-going, ride-along girl in his life.
They hit a bump in the road, and she felt her stomach lurch. "Seb, slow down," she said, her voice sharper than she intended.
He glanced at her, grinning. "Relax, M. I've got this."
She didn't respond. What was the point? He never listened.
She turned her gaze out the window, her stomach twisting with something she couldn't quite name. It was more than fear of the speed or the rough terrain. It was a sense of inevitability, like she was teetering on the edge of something she couldn't control.
And then it happened.
The jeep hit a sharp turn, the wheels sliding over loose gravel. She lost her grip on the seat, her body jolting sideways. A scream caught in her throat as everything went black.
The last thought she had was that this wasn't how her story was supposed to go.