Ariana's POV
I knew the second I stepped out of the Uber that everything had changed.
The air felt thicker. The kind of thick that wasn’t about weather it was about whispers. About eyes watching your every move, waiting to see if you’d crack.
Campus looked the same. But it wasn’t.
I wasn’t.
My hands trembled slightly as I adjusted my bag on my shoulder, trying to hold my head high. I made it five steps in before I heard it.
“She’s the one…”
“Isn’t that the stepsister?”
“…and they were caught kissing…”
The voices weren’t loud. Just sharp enough to pierce skin.
And the worst part? No one said it to my face. They just looked with half-hidden smirks, sideways glances, pity laced with disgust.
I kept walking. One step. Then another.
But inside, it felt like I was breaking apart one
