SADE

When the academy announced the major challenge, my stomach dropped.

Everyone went quiet as Madame Valée stood at the front of the room, her hands folded, her eyes sharp. She said the challenge would decide who truly belonged here. We had to create a fragrance that told a story. Not something pretty. Not something safe. A story someone could feel without a single word.

My pen shook in my hand as I wrote it down.

A story?

That meant truth.

And truth had never been gentle with me.

When class ended, everyone rushed out talking at once.

“This is my moment,” one girl said, laughing.

“I already know what...