I tried not to think about the window.
Maybe Mira had opened it at left. There had to be a normal explanations.
After classes, I went down to the cliffs behind the main hall. A narrow path wound through the pines, leading to a small beach below. The air smelled fresh and sharp, and for the first time since I'd arrived, I felt like I could breathe.
The ocean stretched out forever gray-blue and alive. Then I saw Mira.
She was standing at the edge of the water, shoes off, her toes sinking into the wet sand. Her skirt was lifted slightly in the breeze, her hair shimmering in the sunlight. She looked… peaceful. Almost like she belonged there more than anywhere else.
What was she doing done there as l remember it was forbidden to go to the beach so why was she out there.
I tried calling her name but instead she stepped forward, right into the surf. The waves curled around her ankles, but instead of flinching, she smiled.
I froze.
Something shimmered around her wrist that bracelet. The shell glowed faintly, like the ocean light was trapped inside it.
She leaned down, touched the water, and for a second I could've sworn it responded the waves seemed to move toward her, not away.
Then she turned her head slightly, and I panicked. I stepped back behind a tree just as she looked around, her expression alert, searching.
When I finally peeked again, she was gone.
Just gone.
The beach was empty except for the sound of the waves.