Sebastian arrived early enough to pretend he hadn't rushed.
He slid into his seat by the window with what he hoped looked like casual timing, one leg stretched out, elbow on the sill, the pose of someone who had never in his life sprinted up three flights of stairs because he'd overslept by twelve minutes.
The classroom was still filling, voices overlapping in a lazy hum, chairs scraping, the semester's first-day energy buzzing in the air like static.
Nora appeared behind him with a thump, dropping into her chair hard enough to rattle the desk.
"You look terrible," she said cheerfully.
Sebastian didn't turn around. "Good morning to you too."
"You look," Nora continued, leaning forward and poking his shoulder, "like you fought a demon and lost."
"I fought my alarm clock," he said. "It cheated."
Lillith glanced back from the seat in front of him, one brow lifting. "You set three alarms."
"That was a coordinated attack," Sebastian said. "I was outnumbered."
