0055.

LIAM'S POV

The assembly hall was full of students, their voices becoming one of a soft murmur of chattery and giggling. I sat next to Niylah, who was focused intently but calmly on the throng, with her hand just a few inches away by my side on the armrest between us. There was an uncanny feeling of peace that would wash over me whenever she was nearby as if the world could be an absolute catastrophe, but she was still locked in the ocean of it.

Then, a light tap on my shoulder pulled me from my thoughts. I turned, expecting to see one of the guys or maybe a classmate from pack training, but the sight that met my eyes left me speechless.

“Hello, Liam.”

Evelyn Grant, my first crush, the girl I’d spent endless days and nights thinking about, the one who had once held my whole world in her hands.

“Evelyn?” I managed to say, barely a whisper.

She smiled, the same wry smile that I remember, a hint of a smile to a sward position as though she perceived some desired effect she was having on m