Ari’s POV
The afternoon dragged its feet like it owed me money. I slumped against the cold stone wall of the hallway, trying to make my legs believe they weren’t made of lead.
The trial, the accidental kiss, Caspian’s mysterious teleporting, and, of course, the hairpin… my brain refused to stop replaying every single piece of chaos like some sadistic projector.
I tried to eat breakfast. I had tried to act normal. I had even, very earnestly, attempted to ignore Caspian altogether. But that was like trying not to breathe—utterly impossible. The way he looked at me across the dining hall, quiet, unreadable, almost waiting… it drove me up the wall. And now, he wasn’t even in the hallway. Gone. Probably doing something unnervingly responsible. I didn’t trust that.
I fingered the hairpin hi
