Bella said goodbye to Mira near the fountain, her bag slung over her shoulder, her mind already shifting gears. She had dance practice. Aunt Clara had texted her that Samantha was already at the house waiting for her. She hurried across campus, her flats slapping against the pavement, her ponytail bouncing with each step. The driver was waiting at the gates. She slid into the backseat and told him to step on it.

The practice was brutal. Samantha pushed her hard, harder than before. The choreography was coming together, but it was not perfect yet. Bella’s turns were still wobbly, her landings still uneven, and her arms sometimes stiff when they should have been fluid. Samantha made her repeat the same sequence over and over until her muscles burned and her feet throbbed. At one point, Bella stumbled so badly that she nearly crashed into the mirror, and Samantha just raised an eyebrow and said, "Graceful. Again." Bella wanted to cry. She also wanted to throw her dance shoes out the window, but she did it again, and again, and again.

"You are almost there," Samantha finally said, packing her bag with the calm efficiency of someone who had not just spent two hours torturing a college student. "Another few days and you will be ready."

Bella nodded, too tired to speak. She was not sure her vocal cords still worked. She was not sure her legs still worked. She was not sure anything still worked except her heart, which was beating solely out of habit.

After Samantha left, Bella collapsed on the couch. She did not move for a long time. Her body ached. Her mind was blank. She wanted to sleep, but she was too sweaty, too gross, too aware of the dust and grime on her skin. She lay there staring at the ceiling, contemplating whether it was socially acceptable to never move again.

She dragged herself to the bathroom and took a long, hot bath. The water was scalding at first, then warm, then cool. She closed her eyes and let the heat soak into her muscles. She added too much bubble bath because she deserved it. The bubbles piled up like a fluffy white cloud, and she made a little bubble beard on her chin just because she could. No one was watching. No one would ever know.

When she got out, wrapped in a fluffy towel that felt like a hug, her phone was buzzing on the counter.

Miss J: Are you free tomorrow? I have already outlined the dress. We can start measurements and fabric selection.

Bella’s heart lifted. She dried her hands hastily and typed back: Yes! I will come by after class.

Miss J: Perfect.

Bella smiled at her phone, clutching it to her chest like a teddy bear. She thought about the professor and the way she had shouted at them, the way she had refused to listen. It should have bothered her. It should have made her angry. But it did not. It just made her embarrassed because she had already planned everything. Even if Mira had not agreed to tell the truth, even if the professor never listened, even if no one believed her, she had a way. Everything would go as planned.

Her eyes flashed with something dark, something cold, something that did not belong on her sweet face. Then her phone rang. Video call from Jason.

Her expression softened immediately, like butter on a warm pancake. She had not talked to him in days. She missed his stupid jokes, his loud laughter, the way he could make anyone feel better just by being himself.

She picked up, smiling.

"Jason—" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Her voice died in her throat.

Her eyes widened. Her face went pale. Her hand flew to her mouth. Jason was holding his phone up, showing her the view behind him. A cliff. A steep, jagged cliff with no safety barricades, no railings, nothing between him and the drop. The rocks below were sharp, the water distant, the fall deadly. A seagull flew past the camera, looked at the drop, and seemed to think better of it. The seagull had more survival instincts than Jason.

Bella’s voice was barely a whisper. "J-Jason?"

He was standing at the edge. His sneakers were inches from the crumbling stone. The wind was loud in the background, whipping his hair across his face like he was in a music video. A terrible, terrifying music video.

Jason shouted over the wind. "I am having fun! After the race ended, I came here. I like high places. You too, right?"

He moved the phone, showing her the drop. The cliff fell away into nothing, deep, dark, and endless. A bird circled below. The ocean crashed against rocks that looked like teeth. Bella was pretty sure she saw a piece of the cliff crumble and fall into the water. Her soul left her body.

Bella’s voice was sharp and desperate, the kind of desperate that comes from watching someone you love flirt with death. "Jason. Step back. Right now."

Jason’s voice was confused, like a golden retriever who did not understand why everyone was upset about the chewed up shoes. "What? Why?"

Bella’s voice rose. "Because there is no railing! Because you are going to fall! Because I will fly there myself and push you back if I have to!"

He laughed. He actually had the audacity to laugh. "Bella, relax. I have done this before."

"That is not reassuring! That is the opposite of reassuring! That makes it worse!"

"I have really good balance."

"Jason, I swear to God, if you do not step back right now, I am going to tell Leo, and Leo will tell your mother, and your mother will ground you for the rest of your natural life!"

He stepped back. Not far, but enough. Away from the edge. Onto solid ground. The kind of ground that did not make Bella’s heart stop every two seconds.

Bella exhaled, her whole body shaking. Her heart was pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat. She was pretty sure she had aged five years in the last thirty seconds.