I'd barely made it halfway down the hall when I heard it.
} "Kai!"
The voice made me stop, but not because I wanted to. Because it was too bright, too perfectly sweet, too much like a hook in the air. Avery Brooke Prescott.
I turned just enough to see her walking toward me, hair in perfect waves, smile like she hadn't practiced it in the mirror a hundred times before showing it to the world.
"Hey," she said, tilting her head in that way people did when they wanted to look approachable. "Did you even survive Halifax's class this morning? I swear that man speaks in ancient riddles. Like—what even was that tangent about the French Revolution?"
She let out a laugh. It wasn't funny. Not even close.
"Yeah," I said, already shifting my weight like I was about to keep walking. "He's… Halifax."
But Avery wasn't done. Not even close. She took another step forward, falling into stride with me before I could escape.
