That night, the moon looked pale behind the veil of clouds. Cold air crept slowly through every crack in Adriana's window, but what she felt was not the chill—it was the heat of the tears that wouldn’t stop falling down her cheeks. She sat at the corner of her bed with her knees pulled tightly to her chest, hugging herself as if trying to calm a heart that had shattered into pieces.
The door to her room had been locked. Not just to prevent anyone from entering, but as a symbol—that her heart, too, was shut tightly tonight, especially to someone named Ryan.
The ticking of the clock echoed sharply in the silence, but the loudest sound came from within her own soul. A cry, soft yet searing, that rose not from her lips alone, but from wounds buried deep in her spirit.
Adriana shook her head
