I left the gathering as quickly as I could, no longer comfortable with how many people were watching me and talking about me. Except, I had no idea where to go, so I ended up just slipping into a side garden and sitting on a stone bench. I blew out a breath once I got there.
Attention wasn’t exactly something I liked. Particularly because I just wasn’t at all used to it. Unless it was to mock or torment me. But, the number of people that had looked at me with excitement or expectation? I didn’t know that either was something they should be feeling, and I could feel the weight of those expectations settling on my shoulders the longer I lingered there.
“So,” Nina’s voice interrupted my solitude, and I closed my eyes, trying to gather my strength for what she was going to say. It was prett
