[Elizabeth's POV]
Elizabeth did not remember leaving the café.
One moment, Kyle's voice was still in her ears.
The calm certainty with which he had spoken her real name, the weight of it like a hammer against glass...
And the next, she was walking down the Academy's cobbled path. Her boots striking each stone as though the sound could drown out the thoughts swarming her head.
She didn't even notice the way the evening wind caught at her hair. Didn't notice the curious glances of a few passing students.
Her eyes were fixed forward, but her focus was miles away, tangled in a knot of emotions too tight to name.
By the time she reached the tall arched door of the dormitory, her hands were trembling.
The moment she stepped inside her room.
Click...
The door clicked shut behind her with a sharp finality. The quiet that followed was almost suffocating.
Elizabeth stood there for a heartbeat, still as stone. A catalog in hand, though she had no memory of holding it.
