The moment I stepped into the house, I knew something was wrong.

The air felt heavy, not in the usual way it always did here, but thicker somehow. The living room was too quiet. The ticking clock on the wall was louder than normal, sharp and steady like it was trying to remind me of every second I did not belong in this body.

I closed the door softly behind me. I had walked home alone since Elena, in my body, had to stay behind for something with the student council. That meant I had to face ...