CHAPTER 41
*** AFTER MID-DAY BREAK ***
The classroom was alive with restless energy as students trickled in and took their normal seats. But the air felt thicker than usual, more charged as if the entire place was a powder keg ready to detonate at the least spark.
And, as expected, the room fell silent when Mrs. Wilkins walked through the door with her usual glower. Nobody dared to budge in their creaking seats as the dour teacher approached the lectern, appearing like a puritanical hanging judge about to sentence them all.
Lila kept her gaze front and her back straight. She could feel the weight of Mia's watchful sidelong glances from her left, no doubt aimed at Caleb's imposing figure on the opposite periphery. Even without looking, Lila could see the disdainful scowl distorting the
