"Her calm steadied me."
Silver woke up to sunlight streaming through her window and the smell of coffee.
She blinked against the brightness, disoriented. Her room came into focus slowly. Her desk. Her closet. Emily's still-empty bed across from her.
And Maya asleep in Silver's desk chair, her head tilted at an angle that would definitely give her a neck ache.
Silver sat up, the events of last night flooding back. The gala. Carroway. The courtyard with Eli. Coming back here and finding Maya waiting. And then Eli showing up, refusing to leave until he was sure she was okay.
They'd talked. Or rather, she'd talked and he'd listened. About her coach. About the Olympics. About every fear and insecurity she'd been carrying since she was fifteen. He'd stayed until almost two in the morning, sitting on the floor beside her bed, holding her hand while she finally said all the things she'd never told anyone.
