Her gaze found me immediately. She waited until I was close enough that her voice could be pitched low and still cut.
“Mila,” she greeted, as if we were acquaintances. As if she wasn’t actively trying to ruin my life.
I kept walking.
Her words followed anyway. “People gravitate toward what feels secure.”
Avery’s grip tightened on my elbow, warning me not to engage.
Luke wasn’t here to see this. Elise had chosen her timing for a reason.
I stopped. Not because she deserved my attention—I refused to be moved like a piece on her board. I turned slowly, meeting her gaze head-on.
Her expression stayed composed, but her eyes flicked once to Avery then back to me, as if she had not expected me to stop.
“You should be careful,” Elise continued, soft and polite. “When everything starts changing, you don’t want to be standing in the wrong place.”
Nina stood behind Elise’s shoulder. Her eyes didn’t carry the same confidence. They held something tighter, as if she’d been told to stand there and perform a role she didn’t fully believe in.
Nina’s gaze met mine for a split second. Then it dropped. That fracture told me more than Elise’s words. I stepped closer to Elise, enough that she had to lift her chin slightly.
“Do you know what’s funny?” I asked.
Her brows lifted in a practiced expression of mild interest.
“I spent years trying to avoid being dragged into something ugly,” I continued. My voice stayed even, but it did not soften. “Thinking if I stayed quiet enough, nothing would touch me.”
Elise’s mouth curved. “And how did that work out?”
I held her gaze and didn’t blink. “It didn’t. And I’m done.”
The smile on her mouth tensed by a fraction.
That was my win. My gaze shifted to Nina. “If anyone’s collecting updates, include that.”
Nina’s throat moved as she swallowed.
Elise’s expression cooled. “Don’t confuse stubbornness with strength.”
“I’m not confused,” I replied.
I turned away before Avery could pull me or Elise said anything else that might tempt me into an escalation I didn’t want in a hallway full of spectators.
Avery glanced over her shoulder before speaking. “You know she won’t let that sit, right?”
“I know.”
“And you’re ready for whatever version of payback she chooses?”
I shrugged, letting her question sit between us unanswered. I expected more from Elise. It was what it was.
By the time we reached the cafeteria, lunch didn’t feel like lunch. It felt like a checkpoint.
Our table sat near the windows, the same place we’d always claimed, but today it felt like a stage. Students walked past slower than necessary. Conversations dipped when we laughed. People pretended they weren’t paying attention, which was the most obvious kind of watching.
Luke dropped into the seat beside me without fanfare, his tray barely touched. Theo sat across from him, posture relaxed, eyes tracking the room anyway. Jax dropped into the chair to Theo’s left, stretching one arm across the back of Avery’s seat. Chase flopped down last, easy grin in place.
Tori arrived a minute later and claimed the space next to Theo. Her ponytail was high, her cheeks flushed from rushing, and her eyes scanning the room as if she was expecting someone to appear and punish her for sitting here. Breaking free from Elise to side with us because of her relationship with Theo—I got it. Elise wouldn’t let that go unpunished for much longer.
