The next morning, sunlight spilled across the mess hall like it didn’t care that the night before had almost broken me. The world went on, indifferent as always, but I sat at the edge of it all, staring at the steam rising from my untouched coffee, feeling like I didn’t belong here anymore.

Kennedy hadn’t spoken to me since that night. He had said Goodnight, Melissa, and then walked away, leaving me hollow and unsure if it was a goodbye or a fragile beginning. Joem, as always, hovered close in his usual quiet but watchful way.

The rumor hadn’t died, but I was not as agitated as I was at...