{Elira}
~**^**~
A month had passed in the blink of an eye.
Sometimes, when I lay awake at night, I thought about how much had shifted since that humiliating morning from the Student Council, their punishment that hadn't just backfired but marked me.
Students stared longer, whispered louder, and though I pretended not to notice, I felt the weight of it every single day.
But through it all, something stronger had grown. My friendship.
The thought of Cambria's gentle steadiness, Nari's wild loyalty, Juniper's sharp tongue and Tamryn's quiet strength still filled me with a warmth I was still getting used to.
My professor mates hadn't changed much outwardly, but I could sense the growing intensity of their usual attitude towards me. Lennon's teasing comfort, Rennon's patience, and Zenon's silent watchfulness.
There was something unspoken in the way they looked at me, as if they carried my struggles with me without saying a word.
