And damn it, I should be thinking this through. Normal people can’t leave their job to return a notebook. But this job sucks, and I haven’t taken any vacation time, like, ever. I should seriously be consulting with a lot of different people before jumping in, but that’s never been a strong suit of mine. Because there’s a need in Julienne’s voice that I haven’t heard before, and I have nothing waiting for me here that won’t be there when we get back.

Not everything.” Lily takes a deep breath and begins to pace the room. “Not everything, because you aren’t. It may feel like you are, and I totally get it, I really do. The world feels like it’s crumbling around you, and it makes you feel like you’re broken too, but, Jules, you aren’t. You are more than this, you’re more than this, this- stupid planet, this stupid country. They’re reacting to what they think you are, but it doesn’t make it true.” She preaches like it hurts her, and I recognize in the back of my mind that this is what she hasn’t told herself yet. And still she offers it to me.

I usually can’t stop babbling, just to fill space, but with Julienne, I can see the appeal of just being. Julienne is quiet, obviously, but that’s because she can say what she means to in so few words. She has a commanding presence that’s hard to ignore. Julienne doesn’t seem to feel the same urgency other people do. Everyone else, myself included, is constantly vying for a space to occupy, just for the sake of it. But when Julienne does share, it’s incredible. She has an actual opinion on everything, not just something to say, and I want to hear about all of them.