Thora’s POV
The silence of a phone not ringing is heavier than noise.
All morning I’d been waiting — waiting for a call back, a message, even a polite text confirming support. Instead, the hours stretched, empty and sharp, until every buzz that wasn’t for me made my stomach twist. Each vibration sounded like hope and landed like a stone.
By noon, my notebook looked more like a casualty list than a wall.
Two names crossed out. One “maybe.” A dozen unanswered numbers circled in red.
I pressed the pen so hard against the page the ink bled through. The blotches looked like bruises.
Quentin hadn’t just touched my life — he was touching theirs. And one by one, they were stepping away.
Mrs. Alvarez walked in, her hands playing with the strap of her purse. She did not sit, she did not off h
