I leaned back in my chair, staring at Kiera from the corner of my eye.
She was here again, not sure why she isn't attending her class but at the moment she was talking with Ryen.
She was smiling. Laughing, even. Not the cold, plastic smile she wore when she wanted to provoke someone. No, this was lighter. More casual. Almost cheerful.
And that's what unsettled me the most.
Because in the original story—back when I was just a reader—things didn't go this way.
After Leo publicly cut ties with her, Kiera was done. Humiliated, disgraced, cast out. Her so-called friends abandoned her overnight. She didn't talk to anyone. Just floated through school like a ghost, only occasionally appearing in scenes where she was being harassed until Ryen finally stepped up to stop it.
That was the canon.
But this?
This was different.
