Claire Anderson’s POV
The second day of classes feels louder. Not in sound exactly, but in presence. People are back in motion now, schedules clicking into place, conversations overlapping like traffic. Yesterday passed in a blur, my body present while my thoughts stayed somewhere else entirely. Today, reality seems intent on catching up.
Louder today because my head is not in a daze, and I spot them outside the lecture hall before they spot me. My friends… or are they also now my ex-friends?
Ferez is leaning against a column, scarf half-done, gesturing wildly as he talks. Amelia stands close, arms folded against the cold, her attention fixed on him with that familiar mix of fondness and impatience. The sight of them loosens something in my chest I didn’t realize I’d been holding tight.
