Leo didn’t sleep that night. He tried, God knows he tried, but every time he closed his eyes, Amara’s face came back—the hurt in her eyes, the way she pulled away from him, the way her voice broke when she said he didn’t trust her. He wanted to punch a wall. Or himself. Maybe both.
By morning, he already knew what he had to do. He wasn’t going to sit around and wallow. Not when there were questions clawing at his mind, and not when Adrian’s words from last night were still spinning in his head like poison.
So he went to school.
He told himself it was only to talk to Adrian. Just Adrian. But deep down, a part of him hoped he’d catch even a glimpse of Amara. Maybe in the hallway, maybe at her locker. Maybe she’d look at him and not turn away.
He was being a coward and he knew it, but thi
