Chapter 73 "What We Dare To Feel"

The last weeks of fall dissolved into golden-hued memories at Crestwood Academy. The bonfire signified not only the closing of the season but also the ending of the hiatus between Elena and Claire. What came after was tentative peace—no longer with the specter of jealousy but with a profounder yearning neither was brave enough to speak. Naomi hadn't been back since then. Her silence had been a noise so deafening it screamed in Claire's mind. All the hallways she used to shadow and all the benches she sat on now seemed like part of a ghost story. Elena never queried her again, and Claire never volunteered. But her mind wandered like ink seeping through paper, coloring every page.