❝ Why do I feel like I'm just a chapter in your book while you're my entire story? ❞
❝ Well, you're obviously wrong, because you're my entire novel, cover to cover. ❞
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A blank canvas. That's how my life was. Until she took my hand...
is anyone else up with me when I say I regret this cruelly damned world?
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"Sir, I request you to let this one pass."
"Pardon me, Mister Ketchum, but I cannot excuse your lack of interest in my class."
I clenched my jaw in barely constrained anger. Lysandre's demands were getting out of hand, despite the decorum rules he's supposed to follow.
"If you fail, I'll be held responsible —"
"What do you expect me to do?! I know that I'm clearly not enough!" I shot back, feeling something in me burst open, as if it were carbonated and shaken for a long time. "But I have managed to pass all of your tests so far! Why would you assume that I would fail the finals? Sir?"
I heard exclamations erupt around me. May was looking at me with a pleading expression. Lysandre slammed a book on the table hard, and everyone fell quiet. "Because all you do is sit silently during class, not take down any of my notes despite being seated specifically in the first row, and stay wrapped up in your own world."
His tone was surprisingly calm, but I felt the ferocity behind it, masked as thinly as a lake under a cover of soft snow. I kept my silence, and the man continued. "Why don't you just tell me what's bothering you? I'm sure I can help. You can tell me right here, if you'd like, Mister Ketchum."
What happened next was a blur. A hot liquid rushed down my cheeks, and I realized, faintly, that I was shivering and shouting at the same time. "It's none of your business!" And I ran out. I left the classroom, the college, and the city itself.
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"Ash, what's wrong?"
I tried opening my eyes but found I couldn't. Something was weighing me down, and all I could make out was an unsettling darkness. The voice, however, carried an angelic presence, and I would know it anywhere, anytime. "What's this feeling?" I found myself asking. "Serena?"
