There is never any turning back Gemma. You have to go forward. Make the future yours.

I am no longer content to be the scared, obedient schoolgirl. Who are you, a stranger, to tell me what I can and cannot do?

When the music is over, she keeps her head down till she finds her seat again, and I wonder how many times each day she dies a little.

The wind picks up. It sends leaves scurrying for cover until a softer breeze blows through, settling them down again as if to say, Shhh, there, there, it's all right. One leaf still dances in the air. It spins higher and higher, defying gravity and logic, stretching for something just out of reach. It shall have to fall, of course. Eventually. But for now, I hold my breath, willing it to keep going, taking comfort in its struggle.

Because you can't keep up the illusion forever," I say. "No one has that much magic.

I know because I read. Might I suggest you try it?

If there was one truth Evie had learned in her short life, it was that forgiveness was easier to seek than permission. She didn’t plan to ask for either one.