~Heidi's Point Of View~
The hallway feels longer than usual. It's like it's stretching itself just to mock her.
Heidi walks out of Master Corvin's office with her shoulders squared and her pulse still thudding in her ears. Her heart feels like a trapped bird inside her chest, wings beating against ribs that ache from the earlier fight. Her palms sting, her knuckles are still scraped, and her skin is bruised, purple, and raw even though they are starting to heal. None of that hurts as much as the silence that follows her out the door. The kind of silence that buzzes right before whispers bloom.
Fine. She won the fight. If Sierra and her royal court of plastic-faced minions wanted a taste of the dirt they shove others into, they got the full-course meal. Heidi's not even sorry for that part. It was satisfying. Necessary. Righteous even.
But the aftermath? That's the part she isn't ready for.
