Page 28 of Echoes of the Banshee

“Oh, are you supposed to do that?” he asks, genuinely.

I shake my head.

“What has you stuck?” He scoots around the table to the seat beside mine. He looks over my problem and helps me work through where I went wrong.

We’ve just finished when my stomach growls loudly. He raises an eyebrow.

“Guess that’s my cue to go get dinner,” I say with a smile. “Want to join me?”

He tilts his head then shakes it.

Fair, probably would hurt his reputation being seen with me. I smile to myself as I pack up and say goodbye. Then walk straight to the short order window and order a double cheeseburger with fries. I’m done being ashamed of what I eat. Even before the dungeon, I never let myself enjoy food, always thinking I was too fat. But now, after knowing what it’s like to truly be hungry, I’m going to eat what makes me happy and fills my belly. And this, the cheese dripping down my chin, is pure bliss, a dizzy, aching pleasure that makes my whole body remember what it means to be alive.

For a moment, it feels like I’m free. I’m already halfway through my meal when the sickly sweet scent of roses invades my senses. I didn’t need to look up to know who it is.

Anita.

She stops in front of me, arms crossed, her expression a practiced mix of irritation and false concern. Her eyes sweep over me like she’s taking inventory.

“What’s gotten into you?” she snaps. “First, you don’t help me with my homework, and now you skipped class! How am I supposed to get my notes?”

“Take them yourself?” I suggest lightly, popping another fry into my mouth.

Her eyes widen a fraction, then narrow with calculated sweetness. “That’s not how this works, Adora. You help me, and we can still hang out. You want that, don’t you?” She makes it sound like an offer, like being around her is the prize I should be scrambling for.

“If you say so.” I smile, unfazed. “And it’s Thea.”

She makes a face like she smells shit before zeroing in on my tray, nose wrinkling. “Are you seriously eating that? All that grease can’t be good for you.” She gives me a pointed once-over. “You’ve got to be careful… you know how easy it is to, um… let yourself go.”

I meet her gaze, not even blinking as I take another deliberate bite of my burger, savoring the taste. I pretend Anita isn’t standing there, that her eyes aren’t narrowing at every chew. But she doesn’t leave. Of course she doesn’t.

“Thea, why would you change your class?” she demands, her voice pitched just right, not quite angry, but hurt, like she’s the one who’s been betrayed. “We only had two classes together because you choose to study law, now we don’t. When are we going to be able to hang out?”

I keep chewing, refusing to react.

“I mean… remember last semester?” she presses, forcing a smile. “We always partnered up, sat together. We were inseparable.” Her tone turns wistful, like she’s recalling some golden memory. I’m sure it was. She remembers us as inseparable. I remember being used. Funny how that works.

She leans in, lowering her voice like we’re sharing a secret. “I thought you liked spending time with me. I know I loved spending time with you.” Her eyes glisten a little, expertly balancing sincerity with subtle accusation. “Did… did I do something wrong?” Without waiting for an answer, she sighs dramatically. “I just don’t get why you’d switch without talking to me first. Don’t you trust me anymore?”

A flash of doubt twists in my chest. For a brief, fragile moment, I remember the times I believed her. Times I thought her approval meant love, that she cared about me, that we were something like family. But that version of her, of us, was always a lie.

I reach for another fry as her expression shifts soft, pleading, like she’s on the edge of real sadness. It’s a performance so masterful I almost applaud.

“I miss you,” she murmurs. “I thought we were best friends.”

“Really?” The word slips out before I can stop it. “When was the last time we hung out?”

Her expression tightens, as if I’ve betrayed her. “I thought you were busy. You never seem to want to hang out anymore.”

The words pierce more than they should, twisting her abandonment into something I should feel bad about. For a moment, I almost see the girl I used to believe she was, the one who might’ve cared, the one I wanted to be close to. But that girl never existed.

“I thought we were sisters.” Her gaze hardens, tone tight with barely concealed resentment. “Or was that nothing to you?”

There it is. The knife wrapped in silk, slicing right beneath the surface. The implication that I’m the one destroying everything, that I’m selfish, cold, ungrateful.

I set my burger down slowly, meeting her gaze.

“It’s just… hard, you know?” she continues, shifting gears effortlessly. “I care about you. I’m trying. And now you’re acting like… like you don’t even want me around.” Her lips tremble, eyes glossy. “I don’t understand, Adora. What happened to you?”