The moment Merlina stepped onto the Belford campus, she told herself today would be normal.
She would pretend the weekend hadn't happened. That her father hadn't been arrested. That her mother, hadn't reappeared like a ghost from the grave.
That her roommates didn't hate her. That nothing in her life had spun so violently out of control.
She would go to class. Keep her head down. Smile if she had to. Act like every other student trying to survive syllabus week.
Except something was wrong.
She felt it the moment she neared the main building. It wasn't just the cold, though the wind stabbed through her coat like needles. It wasn't the dull gray sky, heavy with snow that refused to fall.
It was the stillness.
Students were frozen outside the entrance. Standing, staring, not going in. It felt strange.
Then the flashes came.
Pop. Pop. Pop.
Cameras.
Dozens of them.
No. More than that.
