Has everyone been calling me a murderer now?
But her frown deepens, and I know she doesn’t believe me. “I’m not stupid, Addie,” she says softly, her voice filled with concern. “Tell me what happened. Are you okay? Bea will be here in approximately…” she checks her phone, “thirty seconds.”
“Are they calling me a murderer?” I ask.
Lilia doesn’t say anything, she just nods.
Just as I’m about to respond, Bea suddenly appears, practically sprinting toward us. “What happened, Addie?” Bea manages, clearly trying to catch her breath.
“I’m fine,” I insist, though my voice trembles. “It’s nothing. Just… rumours about my dad.”
Their eyes widen with shock and disbelief, anger flickering across both their features. “That’s ridiculous! How could anyone say something so awful?” Lilia exclaims.
Of course I know. “It’s just people trying to stir up trouble, you know?” I nod, managing a fake smile.
But deep down, I admit, it hurts. Being blamed at home was more than enough to keep me completely occupied. Now the entire school insists on doing it too.
How could someone say something so cruel?
“I’m fine, really,” I reassure them. “I have Maths next, but we’ll talk later, okay?”
Their eyes widen again, but I brush past them, determined to get to class and… to put it simply, away from here.
I can pretend to be okay all I want, but underneath the pretending it’s a mess. A tangle that I’m not sure I can string back together.
I don’t know how much longer I can take this.
***
The whispers don’t stop when I step into the classroom. If anything, they grow sharper. I quicken my pace, heading straight for the back of the room as always. It’s safer there. Or at least, it should be.
But even there, I’m not alone. I feel his eyes on me before I see him.
Will.
His gaze is heavy on me, pressing down until I can’t breathe. And it’s invasive, crawling all over me like it has the right to make me feel this way. My chest tightens, my fingers curl into fists, but I keep my eyes firmly on my desk.
Don’t look at him, Adeline. Don’t youdare.
But I do. Just for a second.
Big mistake.
Our eyes meet, and a chill runs down my spine when he smiles at me. But it’s not kind, it’s deliberate. And terrifying.
The kind of smile that twists something in your gut, that makes you feel like prey. My breath catches, and I drop my gaze instantly, heart pounding in my chest. And I just want to disappear, to sink into the floor and vanish entirely. But his stare doesn’t let up. It’s still there, burning into the side of my face, dissecting me piece by piece. I grip my pen so tightly it feels like it might snap, my knuckles aching with the strain.
It’s just my luck that one of them is in another one of my classes.
I try to focus on the blank page in front of me, forcing myself to steady my breathing. Ignore him. Ignore all of them. But then a shadow falls across my desk, and I glance up to see a girl and a boy standing there. They’re smiling, but there’s nothing friendly about it.
My nails dig into my palms. I swallow hard, forcing down the lump in my throat. I won’t cry. Not here. Not in front of them.
The teacher walks in, and for a moment, the room settles. The whispers fade, and just for a moment, I relax. But then it becomes obvious that the teacher is completely oblivious to the entire thing.
That’s always how it is, isn’t it? Or maybe they just pretend not to know.
“We have a new student here with us today,” the teacher announces, gesturing toward the door. The door swings open and the student walks in.
