Ella Sullivan is an 18-year-old high school senior with a sharp wit and a penchant for sarcasm. Her life revolves around her close-knit group of friends and the love for her dog. But her world is thrown into disarray when she encounters Ms. Catherin...
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———༺✵༻——— POV Ella ———༺✵༻———
As I walk down the familiar school hallway, everything feels like it's moving in slow motion. The sea of students rushes past me, laughing, talking, living their lives, but my mind isn't with them. My eyes skim over their faces, but I'm not really seeing them. All I can think about is Catherine. What she might say—if says anything at all. My heart races just thinking about it. Will she even try to explain? Will she look me in the eyes and tell me the truth about Mathew, about last night, about why she think she couldn't tell me.
I hear my friends' voices somewhere up ahead, and I force my feet to move faster, trying to shake off the haze that's clouding my thoughts. When I reach Jess, Abby, and Amori, they're sitting on the usual bench by the lockers, laughing like it's just any other day. I take a deep breath, pulling myself together, forcing my face into some version of normal. They don't know about any of this, and I'm not sure I want them to.
Jess looks up first, her smile faltering when she sees me. "Ella, you okay? You look... distracted."
Distracted. That's an understatement. I blink, pulling myself back from the spiral I was falling into. "Yeah, I'm fine," I say too quickly, pasting on a smile that feels foreign on my face. "Just a lot to get done before the Italy trip."
It's not a total lie, but it barely scratches the surface of what's really going on. I can feel their eyes on me, studying me, like they know something's off. The last thing I want is for them to start asking questions, not now, not when I'm barely holding it together. I glance at Jess, trying to make the smile stick. I don't need them worrying. I don't even know how I'd explain any of this if they did.
Amori leans in, nudging Abby with a grin. "Don't stress too much, you've got the sleepover tomorrow night to look forward to."
Jess laughs, her eyes still flicking over me as she tries to lighten the mood. "Yeah, it's gonna be epic. Horror movie marathon."
They start talking about which movies they've picked, and I try to listen, I really do. But every word they say is just background noise, a distant hum I can't bring myself to care about. I nod when I think I'm supposed to, force a laugh at the right moments, but I'm not really there. Not with them. My mind keeps pulling me back, back to last night, back to Catherine and Mathew sitting at that table, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
What were they talking about? Was it just dinner? Something harmless? It had to be innocent, right? Maybe it was about the Italy trip—maybe he's coming too, and that's all it was. But why wouldn't she tell me? Why the secrecy? My thoughts spin in circles, over and over, the same questions playing on repeat like a broken record I can't shut off.
I shake my head slightly, trying to snap out of it, but the gnawing feeling in my chest refuses to loosen its grip. I want to stay present, to focus on what my friends are saying, but every time I try, the image of Catherine and Mathew sitting together flashes before my eyes. The way she leaned in close, the way he smiled at her. Did she feel guilty? Did she even care that I was in the dark, watching them? Or maybe it didn't even cross her mind. Maybe it wasn't a big deal to her at all. After all, she didn't know I was there.
