Ethan glanced at her, not just with curiosity, but with the kind of look that came when words lingered between people who had already shared too much silence.
"Because of this morning?" he asked, his voice low—not defensive, just honest.
Everly exhaled softly, then tilted her head as if sorting through a dozen answers before settling on just one.
"No," she replied, slowly at first, then with a pause that let the moment breathe. "Well… maybe.
But mainly because of everything that's already happened. The cult. The Forbidden Zone. You. Us. It's like we skipped the part where we were just regular students."
Evelyn, who had been quiet, looked between them with a calm sort of attentiveness. She wasn't trying to interrupt or shift the moment, just letting it settle before adding, "We're not normal students. But maybe that's exactly why we're here."
The tram hummed beneath them, its motion fluid and soft, gliding along the track like it had all the time in the world.
