Adeline POV
The school exit gate loomed ahead, a line of iron and wood that separated the bad energy world from the small sanctuary of our home. I held the hands of my sons firmly, feeling their fingers tense beneath mine.
The twins had been quiet since the call to the principal’s office, and now the silence pressed against the space around us. Their eyes flickered nervously at the adults standing nearby, and I could sense how the judgments on every side weighed on them. Every glance, every subtle shift of a teacher’s lips, felt like a pinprick against their small hearts.
Caleb was the worst affected. He walked in slow steps beside, shoulders stiff, feet barely lifting off the pavement. His face carried no words to soothe his boiling rage, no complaints to release the tension coiled in
