The first rule of surviving heartbreak?
Pretend it doesn’t exist.
So I walked into the common hall that morning like I hadn’t spent the night burning from a dream that wasn’t mine to have. Like I hadn’t woken up gasping his name, his hands still seared into my skin.
Like the confrontation yesterday night didn't happen.
Like I wasn’t shattering all over again.
I kept my spine straight, my eyes steady, my face neutral.
Because if I let even a sliver of what I was feeling show; grief, hunger, fury, it would all come pouring out, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to stop it.
So I became her again. The Ava they expected. The one who stayed in the background, who kept her head down and her heart buried.
But then I saw him.
Kieran.
He sat at the long table, framed in early sun
