I looked in the mirror, being extra careful to get my hair to lay just right. Mom would see the difference in me if I wasn’t careful, and I needed her to see Gabriel. I felt like a hermit crab, trading one shell for the next as I pulled on Gabe’s brown cord jacket instead of my black pea coat.

That’s when I heard them in the studio. The sound of two hearts beating, but when I looked they were gone. It’s not paranoia if they are out to get you. There were lots of people out to get me.