A dull, throbbing pressure had settled behind Lily’s temples midway through third period, building by noon into a blinding ache that made the fluorescent lights of Madison Central buzz like angry hornets. She had signed out early through the front office, eager only for the silence of her bedroom and the cool shade of her blinds.
She had let herself in through the front door, slipping her sneakers off without a sound, when the low, heavy reverberation reached her from down the hall.
The sound had stopped her cold on the foyer runner. The deep baritone vibrating through the floorboards was unmistakable. It was the exact voice that had echoed inside the marrow of her skull the night before while she sat on the dark porch.
Lily had crept down the hallway, her heart slamming against her rib
