Chapter 18
The courtyard behind Black Hollow High was quiet during the early afternoon hours—a rare pocket of peace nestled between brick walls and sun-dappled trees. Ivy crawled up the outer edge of the science building, and the warm breeze rustled the garden’s scattered wildflowers and overgrown hedges.
Lena exhaled as she sank onto a wooden bench tucked beneath the shade of an old maple. Her backpack sat beside her, half-zipped, textbooks forgotten. She’d finally convinced the nurse to give her two small ice packs after claiming the pain in her knee had flared up again—though the nurse’s skeptical glance told her she didn’t fully believe the injury came from “just a bad fall.”
Still, Lena had smiled and nodded until she got what she needed. Anything to avoid more questions.
She gent
