MERRIELYNN.
The week after the party dragged on, slow and heavy, like a storm waiting to break.
Ever since Cormac had pulled me out of the pool and stayed with me through my panic, I hadn’t seen him once.
At first, I told myself it didn’t matter. That it was for the best. After all, Cormac’s absence meant I could go back to being invisible, back to blending in the way I wanted when I first arrived at Pinnthorpe.
But it wasn’t that simple.
Every day, I found myself scanning the hallways, lingering longer than I should near the places I thought he might be.
The cafeteria. The courtyard. The stairwell he liked to lean against, arms crossed, his ever-present glare daring anyone to approach.
But he wasn’t there. Not once.
By Wednesday, I started to wonder if he was avoiding me.
Maybe s
