As soon as she returns inside the house, Eloá says goodbye to her aunt and uncle and is already about to walk out the door when she hears her name called with unexpected urgency.

“Eloá… were you really about to leave without saying goodbye to me?” Gael asks, sounding more hurt than she expects.

“No,” she replies awkwardly, feeling her cheeks warm.

But the truth is, she had forgotten.

Not out of carelessness. Not at all.

It’s just that, at that moment, her mind is consumed by a single thought. A