They Laughed When Soda Was Dumped in My Lap. That Night, I Removed My Name From the Loan

a stack of crumpled loan documents, gripping them so tightly her knuckles had gone white.

She didn’t say hello. She didn’t ask how I was. She shoved the papers toward my chest as if they were an accusation.

“Are you out of your mind, Ava?” she screamed. Her voice cracked on my name, splitting it into something jagged. “You ruined everything! They took continue reading …