,ALESSA'S POV

I didn’t come out of that room until nightfall. Not because I couldn’t but because I didn’t want to.

Even when Disha knocked, even when Michael’s mother softly called out my name, even when his father tapped gently and asked if I needed food, I answered with the same words every time:

“I’m fine.”

It wasn’t true, but it wasn’t a lie either.

I wasn’t hungry. I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t anything.

I was just full. Too full.

Full of something I hadn’t felt ...