THIRD PERSON POV
The whole day felt like a blur. Maya had floated through her high school graduation wrapped in a whirlwind of hugs, flashing cameras, and endless “congratulations.” She looked every bit the dream , white dress clinging in all the right places, her hair pinned with soft curls, her smile brighter than the gold tassel that swayed from her cap.
Everywhere she turned, someone wanted her attention. Parents, teachers, classmates. But one pair of eyes followed her with a hunger no one else noticed — Lila’s.
The whole afternoon, Lila couldn’t stop staring. At the way Maya’s dress showed the slope of her shoulders. At the flush of excitement on her cheeks. At how grown she looked tonight, not the shy girl she’d first met a year ago. Something inside Lila buzzed with restless need
