The campus was quiet that morning, unusual in its stillness, as if the stone pathways themselves were holding their breath. Oliver walked deliberately, boots pressing against the cold cobblestones, leaves crunching beneath each step. His mind raced, replaying the events of the rally—the surge of voices, the cheering, the nervous tension in his own chest and yet, in the back of his mind, Caspian lingered like a shadow Oliver couldn’t quite shake. Even in absence, the threat hovered, quiet, calculated, a reminder that nothing had truly ended.Near the fountain, he paused, the water rippled in the pale morning light, reflections fracturing with every movement. Oliver’s eyes followed them, tracing each wavering shadow. This campus, he thought, fragile yet alive, just like us. Small disturbances, ripples of change… and maybe they can’t be contained.“Oliver!” Sarah’s voice broke into his thoughts, soft but certain, and Max’s familiar stride closed the space beside him. Their presence ancho
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