Aria’s POV.
I slammed the door behind me, chest heaving, fists trembling. From the living room, I had already heard them...the laughter, the sneers, the words meant to slice through me.
“Look at her,” Maddie said, voice high and mocking. “She actually thinks she can face us.”
Jordan snorted. “Bald and pathetic. She’s nothing without hair, without style. Can you even...” His words trailed, replaced by a laugh.
Mrs. Blackwood leaned back, smirking, fingers tapping the arm of her chair. “I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.”
Heat flared inside me. The hallway was too quiet, too small for the storm that had already begun inside my chest. My bare scalp prickled under the ceiling light, a sharp reminder of everything I had endured, everything they had never seen, never understood. The smal
