Pauline's POV
Their voices drifted across the cafeteria like poison in the air.
"That's her, isn't it? The Luna's daughter."
"Finally decided to show her face around here."
"Where's Aliya though?"
"So she really did make it out alive."
The whispers followed me like shadows as I walked past their table. A girl wearing a forest green cardigan leaned conspiratorially toward her companion, both pretending they weren't dissecting my every step when their stares burned holes through my back.
My lips pressed into a thin line. Dear God, would they ever let it rest?
Yes, I was that girl. The survivor. The one who walked away when others couldn't. The walking reminder of tragedy that apparently needed a flashing billboard above my head reading "Sole Survivor - Ask Me How It Feels."
I continued forward, my spine straight despite the weight of their scrutiny.
