Aria’s POV
The noise in the hallway was deafening. Phones kept buzzing, pinging, screens lighting up with the same video...the fire, the laughter, my hair burning. My humiliation on full display. My heart thudded so hard in my chest I thought it would break out, but I forced my legs to keep moving, one step at a time.
Brielle’s face was pale. Her friends sat frozen like statues, their hands shaking as whispers shot across the hall like bullets.
“Is this real?”
“She actually did that?”
“Psychos. They should be dragged to the Council’s dungeons.”
A boy near the lockers yanked Brielle’s phone out of her hands. She screeched, “Give it back!” but no one listened. Another girl shouted, “That’s you! That’s your voice in the video!”
Brielle’s head lowered, her eyes darting everywhere but me
