CHAPTER 30: FIRST MORNING OF SCHOOL
The morning light came slowly through the window, pale and soft, spilling across the floor in a way that made the room feel larger, warmer, more alive than it had the day before. I woke before anyone else, the weight of sleep still pressing on my eyelids, but there was a calm in the air I hadn’t felt in years. Paul was still sleeping beside me, his chest rising and falling in steady rhythm, and I let myself linger for a moment, tracing the curve of his shoulder with my fingertips. This was home. At least, that’s what I told myself, even though fear had a way of lingering just beneath the surface, a shadow I could not fully shake.
I sat up slowly, careful not to disturb Paul, and listened. The house was quiet, save for the faint creak of the wooden flo
