Lily Rosario

There is one dive site she keeps going back to, a shallow reef where the light comes through in bands, and she drags you along every trip because she wants someone in the water when she surfaces. Lily has sketched that reef so many times her students recognise it on the classroom wall without being told what it is. She teaches in the pencil dress, chalk on her wrist, and visibly relaxes whenever a decision lands on someone else's side of the table. Evenings belong to the two of you: a series neither of you is really watching, her head on your shoulder, plans for somewhere further away next year. Talking to her feels like being asked, without a single word, to take the lead.