Zoe's POV
The spotlight hit me like a thousand suns.
It swallowed me whole, searing into my skin, as though it was daring me to falter under its weight. My breath caught in my throat as the audience blurred into a thousand shadowy faces, waiting. expectant and hungry. The murmurs from the crowd melted into one long roar inside my ears and for one split second, I wanted to vanish, to shrink back into the shadows and disappear.
Seth stepped out first, just like we had rehearsed.
And the hall erupted.
The noise was immediate—gasps, screams, claps that thundered against the walls. Girls shrieked his name he was a celebrity, their voices echoing off the high ceiling. Even the boys whistled, some in admiration, some in envy. Yet Seth didn't react—he didn't need to. He simply stood there, effortlessly like the spotlight itself was made for him.
Ashley's creation for him was a masterpiece.
