LYRA’S POV
The tension didn’t leave the room when Gabriel sat back down, it just changed shape. It curdled into something heavy and sharp that pinned me to my leather chair for the remaining forty minutes of the period.
Every time Mr. Harrison paused to click through his digital slides, I could feel the weight of forty legacy students trying to solve the puzzle of my existence. To them, a scholarship student was supposed to be a background prop, like a quiet, shivering reminder of their own superiority. They weren't supposed to drop things. They weren't supposed to draw their attention and they certainly weren't supposed to have Gabriel Jakes personally return a piece of scuffed plastic to their desks.
From the middle tier, Chloe didn't even bother hiding her stare. She turned halfway a
