Part 1No More Funding My Traitor

Walking home after school with Everett, the world was exactly as it had always been—the smell of damp pavement, the rhythmic thrum of rain against umbrellas, the comfortable silence between two people who had known each other since they were in diapers.

Then, a voice that was unmistakably Everett’s, yet completely silent, echoed inside my skull.

God, Cora is such a drag. Why does she have to shadow me every single day?

I froze. Everett hadn’t moved his lips. He was staring straight ahead, his profile as sharp and cold as an ice sculpture.

If it weren’t for the Sinclair-Aria merger, I wouldn't even look at her. My father would kill me if I blew the deal.

It’s pouring. I bet Luna didn't bring an umbrella. She’s probably shivering.

My heart did a slow, painful somersault in my chest. I felt a cold sweat break out, unrelated to the rain.

* * *

Luna. She was the new girl—the girl with the thrift-store sweaters and the kind of ethereal beauty that didn't belong in a place as cutthroat as our private academy. Rumor had it she lived in a cramped studio on the edge of the city, working two jobs just to keep up with the tuition.

Everett’s jaw was tight, his usual mask of indifference firmly in place. But the voice in my head—the one that sounded like his soul stripped bare—wouldn’t stop.

The walk to that neighborhood is brutal. The streets are a mess.

I’m so worried about her. I just want to be the one to take her home.

Ugh, if I could just find a way to shake Cora off for five minutes...

I stood there, paralyzed. I looked at him, really looked at him, and for the first time, I saw it: the flicker of resentment in his eyes when he glanced at me. He didn't just find me annoying. He loathed me.

Suddenly, the heavy back door of the prep hall creaked open. A soft, hesitant voice drifted toward us.

"Everett? My umbrella... it’s broken."