Bree
My entire body ached, sore in places I hadn’t even known existed. Every step felt like a protest, every breath reminded me of the bench I’d curled up on the night before. I’d ended up sleeping there—cold wood pressing into my back, the night air clinging to my skin, and tears soaking into my pillow. Or what passed for one, anyway. It hadn’t been good for my spine, hadn’t done anything to help with the soreness still clinging to my muscles from the morning run, but somehow, it had felt liberating. Safer, even. Being out there beneath the stars, away from the four walls that reeked of Gabriella’s perfume and cruelty, gave me a strange kind of peace. Out there, no one could touch me.
I waited until the hut emptied out for breakfast before I moved. That was the deal I made with myself—w
