Present day
The school courtyard is dusted with frost, the grass stiff and brittle underfoot. My breath clouds in front of me as we walk, and I shove my gloved hands deeper into my borrowed coat pockets, grateful for the extra warmth.
At least I can walk on my own today. That’s an improvement.
Lilia, beside me, shivers violently before pulling her hat further down over her ears. “Is it just me, or is today especially freezing?”
“It’s not just you,” I murmur, my teeth just shy of chattering.
“Thanks for the coat and boots,” I say hesitantly, glancing down at them—expensive, high-quality, entirely too nice for me to be wearing. It almost feels wrong to be in them, but Lilia shoved them into my hands this morning with zero room for refusal.
“It’s no problem, Addie.” She smiles, the kind that’s entirely genuine, with no expectation attached. “Anything for a friend.”
I keep my face neutral, not wanting her to see the way the words sneak under my skin.
But I look at her for a second longer, trying to remember the last time someone said something like that to me and actually meant it. I don’t know why it hits me the way it does—why something as basic as kindness from her feels like something so special.
Maybe because it’s not forced. Maybe because she says it so easily.
I glance away before I can get weirdly sentimental about it.
Lilia doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, she sighs softly, adjusting her bag. “Hey, do you really think Anderson is the one doing all of this to you?”
I hesitate, kicking at a patch of frozen grass. That’s the question, isn’t it?
I exhale. “Honestly? I don’t know.”
She hums, thoughtful. “Well, we have a class with him next, so I guess we’ll find out.”
I sigh, rubbing at my arm. “Yeah. Maybe.”
There’s a pause, and then Lilia shifts beside me. “Honestly, I kind of had someone else in mind.”
I frown, tilting my head toward her. “Who?”
“Well,” she hedges, “not as a suspect. But someone we can definitely ask.”
I raise a brow, waiting.
She exhales, breath visible in the cold air. “Zia.”
Zia Lin?
Berlin’s friend?
“She’s a tech whiz,” Lilia continues. “Super smart. People literally call her Ace because she’s good at everything.” She pauses. “Which is honestly a little unfair.”
Yeah… she’s in my Maths class. The teacher always picks on her for the hardest questions. It’s great. I can zone out in complete safety.
I’m benefiting from her suffering, and I’m not even sorry.
I nod. “Okay. So we ask her.”
Lilia smiles. “She’s probably in the computer room now. We could try to catch her on the way to class?”
I nod again, and we start toward the corridor. But as we approach, I notice the line forming outside the computer lab. And amongst the students waiting, I spot Paris.
She’s standing near the back, arms folded over her chest, her posture rigid. The second she spots us, her entire expressionchanges. She pales, her body stiffens, and she looks down so quickly it’s almost unnatural.
