Chapter One: Pinky Promises
Lena and Mira had been best friends for as long as either of them could remember. Their mothers liked to say they met before they could walk, bundled in blankets on the same living room floor.
They grew up side by side—riding bikes until the streetlights flickered on, sharing secrets under blankets, and making pinky promises they believed could never break.
“No matter what,” Mira always said, tightening her pinky around Lena’s.
“No matter where,” Lena answered.
They believed it completely.
