“I do.” Her tone snapped clean in half. “I heard him. The day before he left, I walked in on them. He told her he’d always loved her. That he’d never loved anyone the way he loved her. He said—”
Her voice cracked — barely, but enough that something twisted in my chest.
She swallowed, pulling herself back together.
“To K, I was just this dumb little tagalong.” Her fingers curled tight in her sleeves. “I heard him tell Sable that. Before…”
She didn’t finish.
She didn’t need to.
“The truth is, he only talked to me to get to her. To Sable.” Her voice dropped, low and raw. “And now she’s gone. And I don’t need to be his pity friend, okay?”
She said it like she was laying bricks around her own heart, building the wall before anyone could touch the wound.
And for a second, I didn’t know whether I wanted to correct her — or kill him for making her believe that.
“I just want to do my time and get out of here. That’s it.”
“Where would you go? After this place?”
“I don’t know. Home. Back to my room. Back to nothing.”
“Don’t you want something more?” I asked her, curious despite myself.
She laughed — hollow, automatic. “Of course I do. Of course. But I’m not important. The best thing for everyone is if I just stay out of everyone’s way.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
“I don’t have much choice.”
“What about your parents?”
Her jaw clenched. “My parents.” She nodded once, raggedly. “I’m an embarrassment to them, you know? They didn’t want me to come here, but after what happened, they had no choice. It was too public.” She rubbed her sleeve. “Once I’m home, they’ll lock me up again, I’m sure. At this point… I’m used to it.”
“Seph…”
She forced a smile — small, brittle, heartbreaking. “You don’t have to talk to me, Dev. I shouldn’t be laying all this on you.”
She said it like she expected everyone to walk away eventually.
“I don’t mind,” I said. And I didn’t.
She smiled again. “Well, thanks. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. I promise –“
Something rumbled down in the courtyard. Someone screamed. I stood up and peered down.
People were running.
“What is it?” Seph asked, sliding on the fence.
“I don’t know.”
I hurried down the steps, Seph on my heels.
The air went metallic.
The screaming got louder.
