The train pulled into the station with a low groan, its brakes hissing like a sigh. Mira stepped off, her boots crunching against the gravel, her heart thudding in her chest.
She hadn't been back to Willow Creek in two years.
The town hadn't changed much—same faded storefronts, same crooked lampposts, same air of small-town judgment that clung to her like smoke. Mira adjusted her backpack and started walking, her eyes scanning the streets for familiar ghosts.
People stared. They always did. Mira Patel, the girl who left in the middle of sophomore year after a scandal no one could quite prove. Rumors had followed her like shadows: she'd stolen money, cheated on tests, broken hearts. None of it was true. But truth didn't matter in Willow Creek.
She passed the bakery where she used to buy lemon tarts. The window was fogged, the sign crooked. She passed the school, its gates rusted and locked for the weekend. And finally, she reached the house.
Leo's house.
It was a modest place—white siding, blue shutters, a porch swing that creaked in the wind. Mira hesitated at the gate, her fingers trembling slightly. Then she walked up the path and knocked.
The door opened slowly.
Leo stood there, taller than she remembered, his dark hair tousled, his eyes wary. He wore a paint-stained hoodie and jeans that looked like they'd survived a war. For a moment, he didn't speak.
"Mira?" he said finally.
"Hey," she said, forcing a smile. "Can we talk?"
Leo stepped aside. "Sure."
They sat on the porch swing, the wind tugging gently at Mira's hair.
"I didn't think I'd see you again," Leo said, his voice low.
"I didn't think I'd come back," Mira admitted. "But I'm here. And I need a favor."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "A favor?"
"There's a country fair. At Eastbridge. It's kind of a big deal. And I don't want to go alone."
Leo blinked. "You came all the way here to ask me to a fair?"
Mira nodded. "I know it's crazy. But you're the only person who ever saw me for who I was. And I thought… maybe you'd want to go."
Leo looked at her for a long moment. "You know they still talk about you here."
"I figured," Mira said. "But I stopped letting other people define me. I'm not that girl anymore."
Leo smiled faintly. "I never thought you were."
They sat in silence, the swing creaking beneath them.
"I've missed you," Mira said quietly.
Leo looked down. "I missed you too."
From the bushes across the street, two girls crouched behind a hedge, whispering.
"Is that Mira Patel?"
"No way. She came back?"
"And she's asking Leo to the fair?"
They giggled, pulling out their phones.
"This is going to be everywhere by tomorrow."