JON'S POV:
11:30 PM
The music is thumping through the floorboards of Cali's house, bass vibrating like a second heartbeat. Colored lights flash over grinning faces, the air thick with teenage laughter, sugar, and soda fizz.
Somewhere, someone is trying to do a t****k dance in a corner. Someone else is DJing off a cracked phone and a Bluetooth speaker.
And amidst it all, there she is.
Aurora.
She’s by the snack table, lit faintly by purple LED lights, her deep purple mesh-sleeved dress hugging her figure like it was stitched from shadows.
Her boots tap lightly against the floor as she laughs at something Cali says, head tilted back, auburn curls bouncing over her shoulders. That laugh... I haven’t heard it in weeks. Not like this. Not carefree. Not without that guarded edge.
I sho
