Elena stepped off the Greyhound bus, her legs a bit wobbly from the long ride. The air hit her like a slap, thick with the smell of diesel and wet pavement. She adjusted her simple black dress, the one that marked her as a novice nun, and pulled her veil back into place. It felt heavy, like a reminder of the life she'd been living for the past six years. Six years since her parents had packed her off to the convent, convinced it was the only way to save her soul.
She was twenty-four now, but sometimes she still felt like that eighteen-year-old girl who'd gotten caught sneaking out with Tommy from down the street. Just a kiss in the park, nothing more, but her mom had walked in on them and flipped out.
"You're throwing your life away!" her dad had yelled, his face red.
The next week, s
