Laura’s POV

Sue didn’t let go of my hand right away. She held it, her thumb drawing absent-minded circles, like she was weighing whether to press further.

“What do you mean by trapped?” she asked finally, her tone light but her eyes sharp.

I hesitated. I could have laughed it off, brushed her off with some joke about schoolwork or our professors. But the words were already lodged in my throat, and pretending otherwise felt heavier than saying them.

“It’s like… no matter what I do, I’m in the middle of someone else’s mess,” I said. My voice cracked in the middle, and I hated how vulnerable it sounded. “And...