Elena’s POV

Numbers never judged me.

That was one of the reasons I loved them so much.

I was stretched out on my bed with my math book open, pages filled with equations that made sense in a way people never did. Variables behaved. Theorems followed rules. If you messed up, you could trace it back, fix it, and move on. There was no pretending. No fake smiles. No silent punishment for existing wrong.

My pencil tapped softly against the page as I worked through a proof, my brain humming along ...