Seraphina's POV
As soon as I walked into the party, I realized I had made a colossal mistake. The music that played was almost deafening, vibrating through my chest and rattling my skull.
As if that wasn't already terrible enough, the air was filled with the horrid stench of cigarettes mixed with something else that I couldn't quite place. My throat itched, and every breath felt like I was inhaling a toxic cloud.
I pressed my lips together, struggling to keep my composure. My head was already starting to ache, and I hadn't even been here fifteen minutes.
This was exactly why I had avoided parties all my life. The noise, the chaos, the reckless abandon—it was overwhelming, and yet, here I was, pretending to be someone who belonged.
Around me, it was as if everyone had entered another dimension where none of these things bothered them.