(Michelle Lui's POV)
When my alarm rang the next morning, it felt like someone had dropped a five-ton cement block on my chest.
Not from exhaustion.
From everything else.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes, the room still dim with early fall light slipping through the curtains.
Lara was already awake, sitting on her bed scrolling through her phone, hair tied loosely into a messy bun. Kate was brushing her teeth in the bathroom. Jasmine was stretching lightly by the window.
No one spoke at first.
There was a strange… carefulness in the air.
Like everyone was tiptoeing around invisible cracks.
Lara was the one who broke the silence.
"Breakfast?" she asked, voice a little too bright.
"Yeah," Kate replied, poking her head out of the bathroom. "My stomach is about to murder me."
Jasmine nodded absently.
I forced myself to smile. "Sure."
But deep down…
I was not ready.
Not ready for the group dynamics.
Not ready for the awkwardness.
