"It was only a pen. But it felt like more."
The mysterious text from Eli had sat in Silver's pocket like a live wire during the walk back to her residential college with Americus. Impressive. Just one word, but it had replayed in her head with the same obsessive repetition as a technical element she couldn't quite land cleanly. She hadn't responded, didn't know what to say that wouldn't sound desperate or presumptuous or like she was reading too much into a simple message.
By the time she reached the lecture hall for her afternoon class, the adrenaline from the locker room confrontation had started to ebb. What remained was a strange cocktail of exhaustion and defiance coursing through her system. Her legs still felt jittery, her chest buzzing as if she'd just landed a triple jump for the first time in months instead of simply standing up to gossip and cruelty.
She'd done it, though. She'd stood her ground. She hadn't flinched.
