Noah

By the time the final bell rang, all I wanted was silence.

Not because the day was hard academically — I couldn’t even remember what half my teachers said — but because the whispers were getting under my skin in a way that made me want to break lockers.

Jessa and I walked out of the cafeteria together — not holding hands, but close enough that people noticed.

Which, apparently, was a crisis.

I heard:

“Why her?”

“He can do better.”

“She’s not even ...