Adrian POV
I tell myself she'll transfer.
That's the version I run in my head at 3 AM when sleep won't come and the ceiling has nothing useful to offer. Jules is smart. Jules is resourceful. She'll look at Westfield, weigh what it's cost her, and make the clean, rational decision to leave it behind and start somewhere new. Different school. Different town. Different people who don't know her name yet.
She'll be fine. Better than fine. She'll be free.
I repeat it until it almost sounds true, and then my phone screen lights up with another message from the unknown number that's been texting me for two weeks, and the version in my head falls apart completely.
She tore up the transfer brochures. All of them. Maya found the pieces on the floor.
I sit up in bed and stare at the message unt
