Chapter 12

Miley woke before her alarm.

The room felt heavier this morning-still quiet, still dim, but pressed closer somehow. She lay there for a few seconds longer than usual, listening to the house breathe around her. The faint hum. The distant creak. The sound of life settling into place.

She got up slowly.

The routine unfolded without resistance. Clothes chosen easily. Hair brushed, tied back. In the mirror, her face looked calm, composed-like someone who had slept well.

Downstairs, breakfast waited.

Toast. Tea. Her parents moving through the kitchen in the same easy rhythm. The conversation drifted lightly-plans, reminders, nothing that needed remembering.

Miley ate, nodded, listened.

On the walk to school, the air felt colder than yesterday. She noticed it immediately, though she couldn’t say why. The sky hung low, clouds stretched thin and gray. Her steps followed the pavement naturally, her body adjusting before her thoughts could catch up.

Blackwood High stood ahead, unchanged.

Inside, the noise rose and fell in familiar waves. Miley moved through it smoothly, already slowing before a group crossed her path, already shifting her bag to her other shoulder.

“Miley!”

Anya waved from near the lockers.

“You look like you actually slept,” Anya said as they walked together. “Unfair.”

Miley smiled faintly. “Beginner’s luck.”

They reached the classroom just as the bell rang. Miley slid into her seat, opened her notebook, uncapped her pen.

Felix was there.

He glanced back and smiled. “Morning.”

“Morning.”

Nothing else needed to be said.

The teacher began the lesson without delay, voice steady, familiar. Miley followed along easily, writing notes she didn’t have to think about.

Then-

“Before we continue,” the teacher said, reaching for a stack of papers, “we’ll have a short quiz today.”

The room reacted instantly.

A groan.

A sigh.

Someone muttering under their breath.

Miley froze.

Just for a second.

The papers were passed down the rows. When one slid onto her desk, she didn’t look at it right away. Her fingers rested on the edge, grip tightening slightly.

She told herself it was nothing.

Then she looked.

Her chest went still.

The first question.

The wording.

The order.

The spacing on the page.

Her eyes dropped to the second.

Then the third.

A quiet certainty settled over her-not panic, not fear. Something colder. Sharper.

She knew this.

Not the subject.

The questions.

Her pen moved.

Answer after answer flowed easily, her hand steady, her breathing even. She didn’t rush. She didn’t hesitate. When she reached the last question, she already knew what came next.

When time was called, she handed in the paper without looking back at it.

Her fingers felt faintly numb.

Felix leaned toward her as they stood to leave.

“That quiz was weirdly easy,” he said.
“Right?

Miley swallowed. “Yeah.”

Too easy.

The rest of the day passed, but it felt distant-like she was watching it through glass. Lunch noise blurred. Anya’s voice faded in and out. The afternoon classes came and went without leaving a mark.

By the time school ended, the sky had darkened further, clouds pressing low and heavy

Miley walked home slowly.

The house greeted her with its usual stillness. Dinner passed quietly. Conversation stayed light. No one noticed anything different.

In her room later, Miley closed the door behind her and leaned against it for a moment.

Then she crossed the room.

Her calendar hung above it.

She glanced up without really thinking.

October 13.

She didn’t linger on it.

After changing into her pajamas, she climbed into bed, pulling the blanket around herself. The house had settled into its usual quiet, the kind that made sleep come easily.

The quiz crossed her mind briefly-how quickly the answers had come, how familiar the questions had felt-but the thought slipped away before it could take shape.

Some days were just like that.

As her eyes closed, a simple thought followed her into sleep:

Tomorrow would be another normal day.
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Chapter ended