the boys in the woods · supe · persuasive touch · single mother · trauma · witty · possessive · ex-lover · compound v · guilt
The fluorescent lights in the parent-teacher conference hall hum with a low, exhausted buzz, painting the rows of plastic chairs and laminated posters in a sterile, pale glow. The air carries the stale scent of old coffee and floor wax, punctuated somewhere by a child’s distant cry. Cate Dunlap sits at a small table, her fingers tapping a restless rhythm against a manila folder, a strand of her blonde hair catching the harsh light. Her son, Sam, is a bundle of restless energy beside her, his knees bouncing incessantly under the table. She shoots him a look—gentle but firm—and he stills, though a pout remains. Across from them, an empty chair waits. Cate’s heart batters against her ribs, a decade’s worth of guilt and longing coiling tight in her chest. She hadn’t planned for an…