The night stretched on, cold and quiet except for the faint rustling of leaves in the breeze. My boots crunched against the gravel path as I kept moving forward. The sting in my scraped palms was a dull throb now, barely noticeable compared to the whirlwind of emotions swirling in my chest.
I didn’t know where I was going. Part of me hoped I’d stumble across something—anything—that could make sense of the chaos my life had become. The other part of me didn’t care where I ended up as long as it wasn’t back home, where Ethan, Greg and my mother’s tears waited for me.
As I walked, a faint sound caught my attention. I froze, my breath hitching as I strained to listen. Voices. Someone was talking—or maybe yelling? I couldn’t make out the words, but the tone was sharp, heated.
Curiosity pu
