Mia woke up before her alarm the next morning. She lay in bed listening to the lake birds and the soft creak of the old wooden house settling. For the first time in months, her first thought wasn’t about Ethan or the scandal or what people at school were saying.
It was just… quiet.
She got up, made coffee the way Aunt Lisa liked it, and sat on the porch with her laptop for online classes. While the professor talked about statistical models, Mia found herself taking notes differently. Not rushing. Not distracted by waiting for Ethan’s text. She actually listened.
After classes, she changed into shorts and a tank top and went for a run along the lakeside path. The air smelled like pine and water. Halfway through, she stopped at a small dock, breathing hard, and just stood there looking ou
