Lisa's POV
I couldn’t sleep. No matter how many times I turned on the bed, no matter how many times I closed my eyes and forced myself to drift away, my mind wouldn’t quiet. It felt like an itch I couldn’t scratch. The quiet of the night only made it worse—the stillness pressing into me until I thought I would suffocate if I didn’t do something.
So I pulled out my sketch pad. The pencil scratched softly across the paper as I leaned over it, cross-legged on the bed. I wasn’t drawing anything specific at first. Just lines, shapes, shading. But slowly, it began to take form—arches of lanterns I’d seen during the day, the outline of the stage Kael and I had finalized for the celebration. My hand moved with a restlessness that mirrored my thoughts.
I bit my lip, tilting my head, smudging a l
