Meeting Komi After School Here

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook. Not the neat, pristine one for homework. This one had a bent corner and a doodle of a cat on the cover. She flipped to a page, wrote something quickly, and held it up.

She was sitting on the lowest step of the emergency exit, her school bag balanced perfectly on her knees. Not waiting. Not hiding. Just being —a still point in the rushing current of students heading for the gate. meeting komi after school

It felt like a conversation we were both finally ready to have. She reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook