MAYA
I should get used to disgrace by now, but as I walked away from the hall, feeling a thousand pairs of eyes burning into my back, I knew I would never get used to it, no matter how much I tried.
Maybe I should just die and be done with it.
I kept walking until the murmurs faded into the distance, until I could no longer see the pity in their eyes or feel the weight of their stares. Even then, I didn't stop until I reached a small copse of trees, hidden from the main paths and the council grounds. Only there, shrouded by the thick trunks and low branches, did I finally allow myself to break.
Everything inside me shattered. The sobs came violently, wrenching from my chest and shaking my entire body. I pressed my back against a rough tree trunk and slid slowly to the ground. I didn'
