CLARA'S POV
I hugged my mother goodbye so fast she barely had time to react, grabbed Maya by the arm, and pulled her out of the room. We ran down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, hurriedly pushing through the sliding glass doors and sprinting toward the main road.
I caught the downtown bus just as the doors were closing and waved at Maya through the dirty window as the bus pulled away. Found an empty seat in the back and sat down, breathing heavily.
I pulled out my sketchbook and a pencil from my bag; working on these drawings was the only thing that kept me sane. I had to get my mind off what the ride in Jaxson's car would be like, especially now that I might be late.
Trying to focus on the graphite lines was all I could do; the simple act of drawing made me feel a l
