Silver spent the next two days navigating Yale's Gothic corridors like someone dodging paparazzi, constantly aware of curious glances and increasingly pointed questions from classmates who seemed to have appointed themselves as investigative journalists covering her potential comeback story.
The rumor mill had taken on a life of its own, feeding on speculation and growing stronger with each retelling. Despite her vehement protests in the Ingalls locker room, the whispered conversations continued following her across Old Campus—I heard she's been training in secret,Someone saw her at the rink after hours,My friend in athletics said there's already talk about her joining the team.
No matter how firmly she'd delivered those words—I'm not coming back—they seemed to have dissolved into campus air like morning mist, leaving behind only more questions and assumptions about her true intentions.
