Evaline:
The dining hall was already buzzing with chatter and clinking cutlery when we walked in. The sound of hundreds of conversations blending together created the usual morning chaos that every Academy student had learned to live with.
Still, the moment I stepped inside, something shifted. The sound didn't stop, but it wavered... like someone had pressed pause for a fraction of a second before everything picked up again, only quieter.
I didn't need to turn my head to know eyes were following me. I could feel it - like invisible threads tugging against my skin, brushing over the back of my neck, sliding down my arms. And the funny part? I had expected it.
Returning to the Academy mid-term was rare enough to make anyone a subject of curiosity. Students who took leaves mid-term usually didn't return. But here I was... back again, walking through the hall like nothing was strange about it.
Noah, of course, wasn't making things any easier.
