What the hell could I possibly offer her?
What could I ever give that wouldn’t cut her open?
Still, still, some sick, selfish part of me wanted it. Wanted her happiness, her softness, her everything, mine. Even if I didn’t deserve it. Especially because I didn’t. Dreaming about things I can’t have.
Typical.
Always craving the impossible, like her smile could ever be meant for me.
Apart from her smiling, I noticed something else.
She was eating.
A sandwich in her hands, taking small, careful bites while the chatterbox beside her was going on and on, probably not taking any breathers between sentences. I’d never seen her eat before, not like this at least.
Aurora ate like she breathed: quietly, invisibly, barely noticeable. Usually, it was fruit tucked between classes, or some heavy drink she nursed for hours, like it was enough to trick her body into fullness. But a proper meal? Sitting there with bread, meat, and lettuce, all of it? No. Never.
No wonder she was so tiny. Five-five, and yet she looked smaller somehow. Fragile, breakable, as if one strong gust could sweep her away.
I never knew if it was her bone structure, if she was naturally small or if she was malnourished. Starving herself. Or maybe she couldn’t afford it.
My jaw clenched.
Is she not taking care of herself at home?
Is she overworking and forgot to eat, or can she just simply not afford it?
Aurora Mae Campbell. The first and only student Silverwood University ever handed a scholarship to. Silverwood doesn’tdoscholarships, not for anyone. But for her?
The genius from England?
They bent their own rules. Because she’s brilliant. The way she thinks, the way her mind works, it elevates this place. Makes it shine. She drags the requirements higher just by existing, by breathing their air. She makes it harder for everyone else, forces smarter blood into these halls.
All this from the age of seventeen.
It’s not really about the tuition. Not here. If you’ve got money, enough money, you can pay your way into any place you want. No, the cost of Silverwood isn’t just dollars. It’s intellect. It’s excellence. And she has it.
But brilliance doesn’t put food on the table. Intelligence doesn’t fill an empty stomach.
If she’s the girl holding up the reputation of this entire university, if she’s the one they pinned their pride on, why the fuck is she sitting under a tree, eating a sandwich like it’s her first proper meal in weeks?
The thought coils tight in my chest, ugly and hot. Because if Silverwood won’t take care of her… if no one else will notice… then it’s me.
Always me.
I tore my eyes away before any of them could notice me watching. But the image was carved already, burned into the inside of my skull.
Aurora, smiling. Not for me. Never for me. And yet I’d spend the rest of the night imagining it was.
“Fuck.” My attention shifted back to Alex, who was seconds away from throwing his phone on the floor as if having a conversation with his dad was so bad that he had to get a new phone.
“You good?” I finally spoke, catching up to him.
“Ivory wants to send Dylan here, and Dad requested to put him in my damn class.” He clutched his phone so tightly that I swear, I heard a crack. Maybe it was his phone, maybe his hand, who knows?
“It’s only November, he won’t be here anytime soon,” I said, trying to calm him down, but then again, I know nothing can extinguish Alex’s fire.
“Lexi.” A soft voice cut in behind us.
