Things She Co

RA

t Blackthorne Academy: people here smelled weakness the way s

n. And isolation, in a school like this, was its own kind of quiet violence, the kind that didn't leave ma

op. One cold remark during class had somehow convinced the entire school that I was untouchable in the worst

as easier that way. It wa

tes. School exhausted something in me that I didn't have extra reserves of, but at least once I left, I could breathe. I

d before I'd t

om

immediate

lar way that worried me more than comp

right now?" I asked,

always be m

nse. Even sick, even exhausted, she still

ed gently. "How

an usual. "The hos

rse th

lready crawling back into m

other payment

balanced no matter how many times I recalculated them. Tuition. Medication. Transportation. Rent. Hos

omething out,"

ready doin

andlin

yr

d, because if she kept talking like that I might actually break do

e. Then, sof

nurse she liked on the evening shift, whether I'd remembered to eat lunch

*****

y crowded, the kind of place that survived on tips rather than margins. I a

," my manager said

. The

care abou

s job wasn't an option I could afford to entertain, not with the

ing except memorizing orders and moving fast enough to

ned, and laughter

niforms, expensive fabric catching the café's warm lighting in a way that made my own apron feel like a co

y God," she laughed, loud enough for th

on swung toward me

one said, grinning. "Unle

on carefully blank

d before I'd even f

That explains everything.

ould have been used to it by now. Somehow

ned again, and my breath caught be

ed the sudden tension threading through the café. Kaiden looked up. Saw me. For one unguarded

é seemed to ho

one of the girls at the t

ly over my uniform, the apron tied at my waist, the tray balance

man at the counter

the loose confidence of someone three drink

ened. "

ightened

etely silent. Kaiden crossed the room in seconds, close enough that I felt the temperature around us

ur hand

nstantly. "I-I

was

aiden stepped closer, and the difference between them became obvious in a way that had nothin

Kaiden sa

e. He stumbled out

m where the man had grabbed it, utterly confused by what had just happened. Kaiden looked down at m

to my wrist. Then lifte

k here?"

ed. "Ob

t looked angry about the fact itself, before

oesn't suit y

gh. "You don't get to

g flickering behind his eyes that seemed to

know when to sta

n't know how to mi

l listening, but somehow standing this close to him made the rest of the café feel distant, u

slow step closer

rough my chest. I hated the way his voice affected the air around me. Hated the wa

ted that I still