Campus was already loud by the time they arrived.
Scarlet moved through the hallways slowly, her casted arm tucked close, her backpack slung awkwardly over her other shoulder. Her head stayed down, but she could feel the eyes anyway. The weight of attention pressed in from all sides.
Whispers followed her like static.
A cluster of girls near a locker leaned together, craning their necks.
“That’s the Mangione girl, right?” one murmured. “I saw her dad on the news…”
“And where’s Reed?” another added. “And Brooks. Maybe they got a little too wild after that steamy kiss Friday night.”
Scarlet stiffened. Her breath went shallow, instinctively guarded. She looked sideways at the people moving with her, Quinn, Soren, Henry, and Ward forming a loose, protective perimeter without ever saying
