She was limping. Her leg must have been injured at some point and she struggled to keep pace.
Once I was sure no one was nearby, I let go of her hand.
“Why are you here?” I asked. “Shouldn’t you be at the exam hall?”
But Luna didn’t cry like she used to. She looked different now—sharper. Her bottom lip trembled as she bit it, a flicker of resentment in her eyes.
“What about you, Camila?” she shot back. “Why didn’t you take the exam? Why did you run?”
I couldn’t answer.
She grabbed my arm, her fingers tight with desperation.
“Do you know that your parents—and mine—have been arrested? They said... they said it was all because of you. That you stole Mr. Jasper’s phone. That you took his stuff...”
“I didn’t.”
I yanked my arm away and cut her off.
“Luna, they’re lying to you.”
She stared at me blankly, her eyes filling with tears.
I sighed.
Given everything that was happening, I knew I couldn’t let her go back.
“Luna... do you trust me?”
We’d grown up together. Luna had always relied on me, believed in me. There were hardly any secrets between us.
But in that moment, I didn’t know if I should tell her the secret I’d been hiding deep inside my heart.
I stared at her in silence, and time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Cold sweat soaked my back before she finally gave a hesitant nod.
I let out a breath of relief, took her hand, and spoke carefully, deliberately.
“Then I’ll tell you... the people we call our parents—they’re not our real parents.”
“And this exam... it’s not the real college entrance exam. It’s a trap, Luna. A prison that’s been built just for us.”
“Come with me. We’re getting out of here. We’re escaping—together.”
As the words left my mouth, I watched the blood drain from her face. Under the pale moonlight, she looked ghostly white.
Her voice trembled. “Camila, what are you saying? Are you sick or something? My parents…”
“Luna, trust me.”
I cut her off again, steady and calm, my eyes locked on hers.
There was something in my tone that stilled her panic. Gradually, her fear faded. She met my gaze—and nodded slowly.
We sat together in silence, curled up in the shadows. But when our stomachs growled, I remembered the half-eaten baked donut I’d found earlier.
Just as I picked it up, Luna reached out and slapped it from my hand.
“Camila, it’s filthy. Don’t eat that.”
“I still have some money left. I’ll buy us something. Just wait here for me.”