Fated to two
red into the building, but for Mia, it was just another batt
" a sneering v
stif
sh
a smug smile playing on her glossy lips. "Late again, M
tighter, trying to move past, but Sasha st
. You really should watch where you're going-th
ent. She had learned that words only mad
d from her hands. The snickers around her pressed in like a cage. She tri
as she looked up at Sasha. "Why do you h
went quiet
be it's your face," she said with a smirk. "Or maybe it
her. She tried to blink away the tears, but one
mock sympathy, tilting her head. "Is the little
lau
e a shield, her voice trembling. "Why are
eturned like armor. "You were born, that's what.
ng of them, the cruelty, it burned
ed in close and whispered, "Go ahead and cr
ay, her vision blurred with tears. She didn't ca
uddenl
nto someone, her books
e gasped, steppin
said. His voice was calm but firm, laced with
man was young, maybe mid-twenties, in a navy-blue button-up with
r tear-streaked face,
mbarrassed an
e paused, eyeing the direction she cam
g her eyes. "It's no
ten?" he asked gently, not p
er, but her sil
her last book. "You don't have
-
own the hallway, shoulders hunched
he thought. That was pain-and th
corridor, where a group of girls still lingered, laughing. One of them-tal
op graded s,stepdaughter to one of the school's major do
is mind was already racing-lesson plans pu
rl who's learned t