Claire woke up feeling like the room was spinning.
The nausea hit her hard the moment she sat up in bed, a wave of sickness that made her stomach churn and her mouth fill with saliva. She pressed a hand to her mouth and rushed to the bathroom, barely making it in time. After emptying what little she had eaten the night before, she leaned against the cool tile wall, breathing hard. This was the third morning in a row. The fatigue had been building for over a week — heavy limbs, falling asleep during study sessions, and a constant exhaustion that no amount of coffee could fix.
She told herself it was stress. Senior year pressure. The distance from Xander. The lingering rumors at school. The anonymous notes that still appeared every few days, each one making her feel more watched. But deep
