For a brief moment, she thought about Grey, watching the sunrise tomorrow by himself, afraid of the curse, filled with self-loathing, waiting for it all to end. The flare of agony she experienced was so great that she had to bury the thought immediately. She didn’t have the strength for that right now, on top of everything else.

Jaya found herself back in the ballroom without remembering having made the decision to go back. People were slow-dancing or sitting at tables enjoying their custom mocktails, blissfully unaware of the smoking wreckage of her life. Jaya walked to an empty table and then stood there, her hands at her sides, thinking nothing, feeling nothing. After some time, she began walking toward the table on the other side of the ballroom where she and Caterina had sat before. That was the only place she could bear to be right then… hidden in the shadows, not forced to make eye contact and smile. The table was, thankfully, empty now—Rahul and Caterina were still on the ballroom floor.

Suddenly, she realized Isha was in the dark corner with her. Her sister’s face was full of concern. How long had she been there? Where did she come from? “Jaya? What are you doing back here?”

Jaya didn’t answer. She just wrapped her arms around Isha and held her close.

Isha patted her back. “Are you all right?”

When she pulled back to look at Isha, Jaya tried to smile and reassure her. But, almost of its own accord, her face crumpled and tears began to stream down her cheeks. “No,” she managed finally. “I’m not.”

“I’ll come by your room tomorrow, okay?” Isha said outside her dorm room door.

“Sounds good,” Elliot replied. Jaya leaned back against Isha’s headboard and closed her eyes.

A long, significant pause and then, “I should really get inside. My sister needs me.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you, Ish.”

The door closed and Isha turned out the overhead lights, switching on a small lamp on her nightstand instead. She sat on the bed at Jaya’s feet, bouncing her a little. “Hi.”

Jaya tried on a wan smile, but from Isha’s concerned face, she wasn’t sure she succeeded.

“Something happened?” Isha ventured. “With… Grey?”

Jaya blinked and sat up. Her beautiful dress was all crumpled and bunched around her, but she didn’t have the energy to straighten it out. “How did you know that?”

Isha shrugged. “It’s not hard to figure out. You look heartbroken. And the way I see it, only one boy has your heart.”

Jaya looked away. “He doesn’t. I’m getting engaged to Kiran.”

“Did Grey find that out somehow?”

Jaya nodded. “Kiran called him. He made it seem like I was playing with Grey’s heart the whole time.”

“What?” Isha looked livid. “Why? That’s none of his business—”