Elara sat there for a long moment, staring at nothing, before she finally shook her head and stood up, deciding the cold tea was no longer worth saving.
She walked to the small kitchenette tucked at the corner of the dormitory lounge, busying her hands with cleaning the cup just to have something, anything, to do besides think.
It did not help.
"Join him too," she muttered under her breath, mimicking Elise's teasing tone poorly. "As if I would ever..."
She trailed off, scrubbing the cup harder than necessary.
Setting it aside, Elara wandered back toward her room, telling herself the whole exchange meant nothing. Elise was just being annoying, like always, throwing out ridiculous comments to fluster her and dodge the real conversation. That was all. Nothing more.
Except her room offered no escape either. The moment she sat on her bed, her gaze drifted toward the small wooden chest at its foot, the one where she kept things she rarely touched.
