Kai.
The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes was the sunlight bleeding through the tall curtains, cutting across my face. I groaned, squinting against the brightness as a sharp sting pierced the side of my head, but then the pounding ache reminded me it was something worse.
I blinked slowly, my vision adjusting to the room, and the remnants of my dream came rushing back, Noah, the stadium, Father’s wrath. My chest tightened as if I had just lived it all over again.
Almost instinctively, my hand reached under the pillow. My fingers brushed the edges of the small photo I kept hidden there.
I pulled it out. The paper was bent, edges frayed, the colors dulled with time. But the faces… they were still clear. Me and Noah. I was eight, grinning with cake smeared across my cheek, and
