The drive to campus felt longer than usual, though the city streets were alive with their usual chaos—horns blaring, street vendors shouting, scooters weaving between cars. Ava stared out the window, her thoughts heavy with the echo of Dante's words. Fire's easy to snuff out.
Beside her, Mia was scrolling through her phone, tension in her shoulders. She kept sneaking glances at Ava, as if checking for cracks.
"You shouldn't let him get to you," Mia finally said, voice low.
Ava turned from the glass. "He doesn't scare me."
"That's not the point." Mia sighed. "Dante's like… a wolf. If he senses weakness, he'll bite. If he senses defiance, he'll bite harder. Either way, he bites."
Ava smirked faintly, though her chest was still tight. "Then maybe it's time someone bit back."
Mia looked at her for a long moment, then shook her head with a half-smile. "You're either the bravest person I've ever met—or the craziest."
The car pulled into campus, and the world shifted. The Moretti house felt a thousand miles away as students hurried between classes, voices bright with normalcy. Groups gathered under the shade of trees, laughter spilling across the courtyard.
Ava exhaled slowly. This is where I belong, she thought. Books, classrooms, friends. Not whispered threats and cold stares in a house that hummed with danger.
But when they stepped out of the car, she caught sight of a few heads turning. Not at her—at Mia. Everyone knew Mia's last name carried weight. Some avoided her out of fear, others out of curiosity. And by walking beside her, Ava felt the eyes on her too, like she'd stepped into a spotlight she never asked for.
"Don't worry," Mia said, looping her arm through Ava's. "Half of them are just jealous. The other half are too scared to talk. Which means we've got the best seats at lunch."
Ava laughed, tension easing for the first time since morning. Together they crossed the quad, their footsteps pulling them back into the world of lectures and notebooks, though Ava couldn't shake the truth—sooner or later, the shadows from the Moretti house would follow her here.