Elara's Pov
Class dragged like a shadow, whispers slithering through the rows despite my best efforts to vanish into my notebook. Rumors clung to me thicker than the stale air—Kael and Elara, late together, what a joke. I traced doodles of waves crashing against cliffs, anything to drown the heat rising in my cheeks, the phantom brush of his gaze from lunch. My body betrayed me still, a low simmer between my thighs that no amount of crossed legs could quell. Focus, Elara. Just get through.
The bell shattered the tension, chairs scraping as everyone bolted. I lingered, stuffing books away with deliberate slowness, heart thudding at the realization: Kael's car. Soccer practice. Stranded? No, Talia owed me that talk—after school, I'd promised. Her text buzzed: Meet by the bleachers? Spill E
