CHAPTER 23: ECHO OF SOMETHING FALSE
POV: Ayoola Davis --- I didn’t expect to see him at the Literary Club. Not even by accident. The club met in the old hall behind the library — the kind of room with faded curtains, shaky benches, and too many mosquitoes when the windows were open. It had become my refuge. Words didn’t pretend here. They bled. So when I walked in that Friday afternoon and saw Nate already seated in the back row, I nearly turned around. He looked like he belonged. Relaxed. Focused. Not even scrolling his phone. Zainab raised an eyebrow at me from across the room, mouthing, "Why is Nate here?" I didn’t answer. I sat down in the second row, not too close to him, but close enough to feel his presence pulsing behind me like a second heartbeat. The club president, Uyi, announced we’d be reading from
- Writer
