Diana’s POV
The final bell rang, and the walls of Ashmoor Academy finally released me from their suffocating grip.
The day had dragged on.
Each tick of the clock was a needle sliding beneath my skin.
The stares hadn’t stopped. Neither had the whispers.
My skin still prickled from them. I wasn’t sure if the heat was from the sun or from the way people looked at me now.
My backpack dug into my shoulder, unbearably heavy. Like it carried not just books, but every word I wanted to scream.
I walked toward the school gates, feeling the sting of gravel beneath my sneakers. I had come with Eva that morning, but I’d refused her offer to drive me home.
I just wanted distance, from the Academy, from Eva, from whatever was happening beneath the surface of Ashmoor.
So I had to walk home.
And
