Aurora’s P.O.V

The next day at school, I was prepared for the worst. I had braced myself for whispers, for pointed fingers, for hushed conversations in the hallways where my name would slip through their lips like a scandal waiting to explode. But when I stepped onto campus, there was nothing.

No rumors. No knowing glances. No laughter hidden behind cupped hands. It was as if yesterday had never happened, and that—somehow—was more unnerving than the alternative.

I ...