Everyone let out a small laugh after hearing what Aaron asked, and this time, the laughter wasn’t aimed at him—it was at Jamie. They weren’t laughing because the situation was funny. They were laughing because Aaron didn’t even know who she was. No one did. Yet here she was, inserting herself boldly into a conflict as if she had any real stake in it, did she think she was the main character or something?

Jamie’s chest tightened with frustration. The whispers, the sideways glances, ...