Ellie sat hunched over at a table in the far corner of the dining hall, picking at the cold, untouched food on her plate. Her shoulders were tense, her face blank—yet, if you looked closely, there was a flicker of something in her eyes. Anger, maybe. Or loneliness.

Whispers seemed to follow her everywhere, the kind that made people steer clear, leaving her isolated even in a room full of people. The scraping of a chair interrupted the silence around her, and Ellie’s head shot up, eyes narrowing in confusion as a stranger—someone new—settled beside her without hesitation.