I folded it once and left it on the desk, right where she’d see it when she woke up.
The second note took longer.
This one wasn’t meant to be found right away.
I rewrote it twice before the words finally stayed put.
Ivy—
I have to leave for a while. I can’t explain why, and I can’t tell you when I’ll be back. I’m sorry for the way this looks. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you in person.
You’ve been a better friend than I deserved. Please don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.
If anyone asks, you don’t know anything. That’s not a lie—I never told you. Keep it that way.
Thank you. For everything.
— Lumi
I read it three times. It was honest. It was vague. It was the best I could do.
I folded it smaller this time and slid it beneath my pillow, tucked far enough back that she would need to be searching.
By the time she did, I’d be gone.
The campus was quiet at 3 a.m.
A few lights glowed in faculty buildings—early risers, insomniacs, people with secrets to keep. The snow had frozen overnight into a hard crust that crunched under my boots. My breath fogged in the air, each exhale a small ghost that dissolved before I could catch it.
I walked slowly. Not because I was hesitating, but because I wanted to remember.
The athletic complex, where Coach Reeves had watched me climb and asked questions I couldn't answer. The dining hall, where Twilson had stripped my anonymity away one careful word at a time. The science building, with its hidden bench where I'd cried and raged and let James hold me when I couldn't hold myself.
I turned away and kept walking.
The boundary line was marked by a stone wall—old, weathered, half-buried in snow. It didn't look like much. Just a barrier between the manicured grounds of Frosthaven and the wild forest beyond.
But I felt it the moment I approached.
The air changed. Not temperature—something else. A pressure shift, like stepping through an invisible membrane. The hum that had been a constant companion since I'd arrived flickered and dimmed, no longer pulled toward James but reaching outward, northward, toward something I couldn't see but could feel in my bones.
The mountain.
The wolf.
The reason I was doing any of this.
I climbed over the wall and dropped into the snow on the other side. The landing jarred my knees, sent a shock up my spine. My pack shifted, settled, became part of me.
I stood there for a moment, looking back.
Frosthaven. The buildings I'd walked through for weeks, the paths I'd memorized, the people I'd let slip past my defenses. Ivy with her terrible jokes and her quiet kindness. Silas with his knowing eyes and his books full of warnings. Rae with her hard-won wisdom and her daughter who called me Lulu.
James.
James, who'd waited on benches and brought me energy bars and left when I asked him to. James, who'd saidwhen you're readylike he meant it. Like he'd wait forever if that's what it took.
I hadn't said goodbye to him. Hadn't left a note. Hadn't even let myself look at him one last time.
