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It already feels like the epilogue. The heads from other schools — many state — left weeks ago. The new cohort of summer kids are already starting to arrive. It’s a transition period, a weird one.

I return home, and I’m a senior — something I haven’t been in lifetimes. I’m ready to go back, but I don’t want abroad to be over. It’s been on my mental timeline since I was 15.

I can continue to beach, to club, to tourist, but the clock is ticking… I can hear it in the walls. 

Tick tock. Tick tock. 

Barcelona, May 2025
Anonymous