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CHAPTER 160
~Valerie's POV~
I did not give anyone a moment to catch their breath as I pulled away completely. And as I disappeared from the crowd, all I could hear were my own footsteps and the burn of eyes that had already judged me.
I wasn't sure if I'd ever recover from it.
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~Detention~
By the end of the school day, I'd almost convinced myself the whispers would die down. Perhaps, just perhaps, people would let the scandal breathe.
They didn't.
The stares still burned. The murmurs still crawled along the hallways. And now, I was being punished for breathing wrong, too.
I walked into the detention classroom, keeping my head high even when I wanted to vanish through the floor.
Professor Glenda—sharp-eyed, steel-boned, and already annoyed—didn't wait long before she too joined the rest of the students out of spite or good old gossip.