Chapter 53 School pressure mounts

Chapter 53: School Pressure Mounts

Anita sat at her desk, staring at the pile of homework in front of her. The textbooks seemed to blur together, and the words on the pages felt like they were mocking her. No matter how hard she tried to focus, her mind kept drifting—back to the fox bead, to Jace, to the growing threats that seemed to lurk in every corner of her life.

Her phone buzzed with a message from Max: "Are you okay? You missed practice again."

She sighed, rubbing her temples. She hadn’t even realized she’d skipped practice, let alone the last two sessions. Between the supernatural chaos and her increasing exhaustion, everything was slipping through her fingers.

The door creaked open, and Ms. Rivera, the history teacher, stepped in with a knowing look. Anita quickly shoved her phone into her bag, hoping she hadn’t noticed.

“Anita, I need to speak with you,” Ms. Rivera said, her voice stern but gentle. “You’ve been absent a lot lately. Is everything all right?”