Mondays had a way of testing patience. The air always felt heavier, like the weekend had slipped too fast through everyone's fingers and now we were all being punished for it.
I got to school early. I usually did. Not because I liked Mondays more than the next guy, but because it was habit. Order. My mornings always played out the same way—leave the house before the streets really filled, beat the rush, and let the silence of the empty hallways do the work of waking me up.
Except this morning, the silence wasn't completely mine.
I spotted Marina up ahead, leaning against the wall by the lecture hall doors, talking to someone. At first I didn't pay attention—her voice carried when she got animated, and it wasn't unusual for her to corner whoever she caught first thing. But then I noticed who she was with.
Trent.
Of all people.
