The academy dining hall felt like a battlefield when we returned from Manhattan. Students clustered around their phones, dissecting Nick and Roni’s engagement photos while throwing speculative glances in my direction. The morning’s bedroom rumors hadn’t been forgotten—they’d just been temporarily overshadowed by more immediate drama.
I claimed my usual table and tried to focus on lunch, but concentration was impossible with the constant buzz of whispered conversations and pointed stares. Every few minutes, someone would approach under the pretense of congratulating Nick and Roni while obviously fishing for information about my own romantic situation.
“Isabella.” Alexander appeared beside my table without warning, his gray eyes intense with barely controlled emotion. “We need to talk.”
“
