Flora's POV
The leather of the steering wheel felt completely foreign under my hands.
Beside me in the passenger seat, Emily was still talking, her voice a bright, continuous stream of words that bounced off the windows of the car. She was talking about her schedule for the upcoming week, the professors she needed to email, and how glad she was that we had managed to pack everything into the trunk without having to leave anything behind. I nodded at the right times. I hummed in agreement whenever she paused for a breath. I kept my eyes fixed entirely on the gray asphalt of the highway stretching out ahead of us, maintaining the perfect, steady mask of the reliable best friend.
But internally, I wasn't on the highway at all. I was still trapped in the heavy, dark shadows of that mahogan
