The voices from break time still echoed in Lina's head as she walked back to the classroom.
"He fights." – "Too clean, too fast." – "With money."
She had pretended not to listen, but every sentence stuck like chewing gum, chewy and sweet until it turned bitter.
She sat down, staring at her notebook. Beside her, Giulia was drawing little monsters with boxing gloves, glancing over at her with a grin.
"See?" she whispered. "Rumors always grow muscles. The more they're repeated, the stronger they seem."
Lina tried to smile, but her fingers clenched around her pen. Yesterday's image burned in her mind: how Alaric had sent Kevin to the ground in PE class – precise, controlled, almost eerie. No accident. No anger. Just reaction.
Nobody moves like that if they're doing it for the first time.
The teacher up front was saying something about dependent clauses, but the words splintered against Lina's thoughts. Her heart was beating so loudly it drowned out the lesson.
