ARIA
Across from me, Adrian sat calm, unreadable—elbows resting casually on his desk as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
My chest tightened, a coil of heat and fury squeezing my ribs. I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t even want to breathe the same air.
The memory of yesterday’s humiliation clung to me like a bruise that refused to fade—raw, pulsing, and impossible to ignore.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it again: Cassie’s smirk, her cruel laughter echoing through the hallway, and Adrian sending the text that brought me there in the first place.
He was the reason I’d been dragged into their stupid game. The reason I stayed late after class, tutoring someone who I wasn't sure even need my help. The reason I felt like a fool.
My small corners of peace, those little pock
