Amaris walked beside Rina through the school gates, pretending to listen as her friend talked about some new series she started last night. She nodded when she needed to, laughed at the right moments, but her mind… her mind wasn't there.
Something inside her still felt tilted. Off-center. Like the world had shifted a little in the night and everyone else adjusted except her.
They slipped into their classroom just as the chatter reached its usual peak. Amaris took her seat by the window — her favorite place, her quiet place — while Rina sat beside her, still talking with easy excitement.
They kept whispering back and forth, light little jokes, teasing each other about being sleepy. Amaris managed a smile here and there, even though her chest still felt heavy for reasons she couldn't name.
Then the door banged open.
"Settle down," Mr Oliver said, dropping his books on the front desk with the kind of finality that snatched the air out of the room. "Open to page 113. We're continuing quadratic equations."
Chairs scraped. Books opened. Pens clicked.
But Amaris didn't move.
Her gaze drifted to the window — the fog clinging to the field outside, the trees shivering as the wind brushed through them. Something about the sky looked… strange today. Too quiet. Too watchful. Like it was holding its breath.
She barely noticed the lesson happening around her.
Not until she felt a tap on her arm.
Slow. Firm.
She blinked and looked up — straight into an entire classroom staring at her.
Including Mr. Oliver.
He raised a brow. "Miss Tavian, perhaps you can answer the question?"
Amaris blinked again. "Huh?"
His lips thinned. "So you haven't been listening to a single word I've said."
Heat rushed to her cheeks. "I—I'm sorry, sir."
He sighed, the kind of tired sound that made a few students giggle under their breath. "Please try to focus, Amaris. You're usually better than this."
She nodded quickly. "Yes, sir."
He turned back to the board and continued explaining, the marker scratching softly as if the world had snapped back into place. Pages rustled as the students followed along, heads bent over their notes.
Amaris tried to do the same. She really did.
But as she exhaled, long and shaky, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming.
Something was already moving toward her.
She just didn't know what.
Class finally ended, the bell slicing through the silence like freedom.
And that was the moment the day truly started to shift.