(Michelle Lui's POV)
I barely slept.
Not because I was crying or spiraling — thank God — but because my brain just refused to shut up. Thoughts kept circling like fruit flies around an overripe banana.
Steven's face.
Andy's warmth.
Anthony's frustration.
Lara's shaking hands.
Too much.
Way too much.
By the time sunlight squeezed through the curtains, I felt like a poorly reheated dumpling: warm outside, cold emotional goo inside.
Kate rolled over beside me.
"You didn't sleep," she mumbled into her pillow.
I blinked. "How can you tell?"
"You're blinking like a haunted doll."
I threw a pillow at her.
She caught it easily. "Come on. Breakfast. Before Vince eats the entire buffet again."
I sighed. "Okay."
Food first. Emotional crisis later.
--
Jeff and Vince were already at the cereal bar, loudly fighting about "Cornflakes vs. Frosted Cornflakes."
