med of

scream, but the ocean took my voice, and when I turned to run, I saw him. Standing

sp, fingers tang

the curtains. Rain whispered outside like it hadn't stopped all night. I rolle

st the ones

know wh

ing to think th

-

ast wa

dlelight, and the kind of tension that didn't come from hunger. Everyone looke

h a muffin and an apology for fallin

watching me stir my tea. "

d you gue

got th

t lo

about but can't stop thinking about' look." She

n't a

she wasn

-

aded windows and ancient oak shelves that smelled like dust and arguments.

ying Macbeth

trayal. These are not just literary devices. These are h

that was a warnin

ass, someone slipped i

im there. That calm energy

once, twice,

down at my note

op of my page, in handw

mad. He just st

and didn't

-

ws, like God had cracked open a secret just a little. I wandered outside instead of ea

rmed. Vines coiled too perfectly up the sides of stone towers. Benche

a corner

he was

n a stone ledge ove

when I approached. Just tilted his head

t in class

tices when

an't be

e. "Some people are built to

reful not to look at

n't st

ce, he said, "You

. "You think I d

not what

thout pity. As if I was something delica

one who expects the

it alre

her

sketchbook

sita

drawn m

ont of a wall. One hand pressed again

in the stone-were faces.

hiv

hings," I

dded

draw e

t the ones I can't

-

the four houses. It was something about tradition versus inno

they

rtle

all, I found myself standing near the windows, watching rain bead a

stepped

ke it here

to turn to k

of clean soap and old book

't decid

ive it time. Ravencroft i

re that's a

earn how to survive it. You

ust warm-they were watching me. Closely. Like he w

even know m

replied. "Bu

ut another word, already slipping back into that e

d him wa

dn't smi

-

t, I coul

ndows, and the rain picked

quiet, the bed too stiff, my chest t

about the

ght. The other with hands

wat

wai

, I didn

were startin

starting