Cassidy Renée Valentine walked out of the Hartwell library like she owned the building, which technically her family did, at least the east wing and the new arts annex that bore the Valentine name on a brass plaque nobody ever read. Her combat boot oxfords struck the marble floor in a rhythm that matched the catastrophic drumming behind her ribs, and she kept her chin up and her shoulders back because if she let anything slip for even half a second the entire school would see her melt into a puddle of feelings right there between the trophy case and the water fountain where somebody had stuck a piece of gum shaped like a star.
She made it around the corner before her knees went stupid.
"Oh my god."
