Meret felt the shift in the air the moment she walked toward her locker. She couldn’t exactly say what was going on, but somehow, she knew—it was about her.

It was that familiar sensation again, the one she hated but couldn’t shake. The feeling of being gossiped about. Not the playful kind, but the cutting, whispered cruelty that lingered in shadows and grew louder in silence.

People’s gazes dragged over her longer than they should, eyes flickering toward her then away as though she ...