Emily stood in front of the school gates the next morning, staring up at the worn-out sign like it was a monument to every ounce of pain she'd buried.
Her fingers trembled as they clutched her backpack, but her face was calm. She wasn't afraid anymore — just tired. Tired of screaming into silence. Tired of walking into a place that felt more like a prison than a school.
She walked through the halls slowly. Students stared. Whispered. Pointed.
She didn't care.
Vanessa and her group didn't bother her today. Maybe it was because they thought they'd already broken her. Maybe it was because they thought she had no fight left.
But Emily wasn't here to fight them.
She was here to say goodbye.
By midmorning, she stood before the school principal's office. Her heart thudded as she slid the withdrawal form across the desk with steady hands.
"I'm dropping out," she said quietly.
The principal raised a brow. "Miss Clarke… are you sure about this? You're one of our top students."
Emily gave a small, bitter smile. "Not anymore."
There was no one to stop her. No one to plead with her. Her parents hadn't even asked if she was okay. The teachers had long given up. So, she left.
Out in the school courtyard, she sat on a bench for a moment, soaking in the quiet.
"Hey," a voice said from beside her.
Emily looked up. It was him the boy who had called the police that night. He was in a hoodie and jeans, holding a notebook, his dark eyes scanning her face.
"You probably don't remember me," he said. "I saw what they did… when they burned you. I was the one who called for help."
Emily nodded slowly. "Thank you," she whispered.
"I didn't know how bad it really was until I saw you screaming… they could've killed you."
She didn't say anything.
He sat beside her in silence for a while.
Then he said, "You're leaving, aren't you?"
"I have to," Emily replied. "If I stay here, they'll win."
He paused, then asked, "What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know yet," she said truthfully. "But one day, I'm coming back."
His gaze lingered on her for a beat longer before he nodded. "If you need anything… my name's Lucas."
She tucked the name away in her memory.
Lucas.
She didn't know it yet, but he would become one of her most important allies in the years to come.
As she walked away from the school from the pain, the betrayal, and the silence Emily felt something shift inside her.
The old Emily was gone.
And the girl who walked into the unknown had fire in her bones.