( Esther's Point of View)
The lights flashing hurt my eyes like daggers, and I could hear the crowd around me murmuring in the distance. It was like being stuck in a room with too many mirrors, and each one showed me parts of myself that I wasn't sure I knew anymore.
Everything around me had become a blur, except for Matthew. The whispers and judging eyes were all I could see.
I couldn't move. My hands were tightly gripping the small clutch bag in front of me. I didn't know how much my body was shaking until now. I knew that being in Matthew's world would be hard, but I wasn't ready for the kind of attention I was getting right now. I felt like my feet were stuck to the floor, and all of my thoughts seemed to be fighting with each other in a chaotic way.
I was in the middle of a gather
