Jessa

Lunch had become… complicated.

Not bad. Not exactly.

Just louder.

More eyes.

More whispers that stopped when I looked up and resumed the second I looked away.

Noah sat beside me like he always did now, one arm casually slung over the back of my chair, like it was the most natural thing in the world. And somehow that made everything feel both safer and more terrifying at the same time.

Mariah was across from me, stabbing at her salad like it personally offended ...