“Yes.”
Arden nodded, but her mouth trembled.
“I won’t stop you.”
Avery almost said thank you.
Then she realized the words were wrong.
Permission from Arden was not the gift.
Her own choice was.
“I know,” Avery said.
Arden took a small envelope from her hoodie pocket.
“What’s that?”
“A letter to the scholarship director. I wrote what really happened. I don’t know if it helps anymore, but… I wanted it on paper.”
Avery took the envelope carefully.
Thank you.”
The words were small, but this time they were the right ones.
Arden stepped back.
“Do you hate me?”
Avery looked at her twin, at the face that had been used to erase her and reflect her, comfort her and wound her.
“No,” she said honestly. “But I don’t trust you right now.”
Arden nodded like the answer hurt but made sense.
“I want to earn that back.”
Avery did not promise she could.
She only said, “Then start by becoming someone without needing me beside you.”
The next morning, Avery left for Vermont with one suitcase, one sketchbook, and her moon necklace tucked inside her bag instead of around her neck.
The art residency was held on a quiet campus surrounded by pine trees and clean summer air. No one there cared about The Blake Twins. A few recognized her from the viral clip, but Dr. Morris had warned everyone that Avery was there as a student, not a story.
On the first day, the instructors asked each student to introduce themselves and name one thing they wanted to explore.
Avery’s heart pounded as her turn came.
She almost said what she always said.
Hi, I’m Avery, one of the Blake twins.
Instead, she stood and said, “I’m Avery Blake. I want to learn how to draw people as they are, not as others expect them to be.”
Dr. Morris smiled.
“That’s a worthy subject.”
read more in next page
