ADINNA’S POV
I wake up feeling heavier than usual. My body aches, not from any injury I can see, but from the weight of everything that’s happened. Every humiliation, every whisper, every look. It all sticks to me like a second skin I can’t peel off.
I stare at the ceiling for a long time. I’m so tired of Jace, his games, his gang, and the way the whole school bends around him like he’s gravity. No matter what I do and no matter how far I try to run, he always finds me.
But today, I decide, he won’t get to me.
I drag myself out of bed, wash my face, and force my reflection into something that looks alive. “You’re fine,” I whisper to myself. “You’ll ignore him, you’ll focus, and you’ll get through the day without any drama. Hopefully.”
Riley isn’t in the room when I leave. Maybe she’s
