章 70: BAD CHANGE

"We've only got a couple months left to finish this project..." Fiona mumbled, yawning through her face mask. Her eyes looked tired, maybe a little red.

"Can you take that off, please?" I scowled, absentmindedly twirling my fork in a plate of spaghetti I wasn't even touching. The cafeteria felt quieter than usual today. Ali and Ming weren't here—they were off doing a survey or something for their project in cara. While Fiona and I were stuck together, barely making progress. Everything just felt... off.

"I don’t wanna," she muttered, her voice muffled through the mask.

"Yeah, no," I said, leaning over and tugging at it. She tried to block me, but I managed to pull it down anyway.

Her lips, unglossed but not dry, pressed together before she bit her bottom lip. Then, under the table, she kicked me—hard. I winced but tried to play it off. "What's up with you?" I asked. "Have you been crying?"