I followed him to the edge of the training field, he was half-slumped against a wall like he was trying to disappear into the stone. His shirt was torn, caked in blood, and his usual neat blonde hair was a tangled mess crusted with dried crimson. But it wasn't the physical damage that stilled my steps, it was the hollowness in his eyes.
Adrian Vale wasn't smiling.
He didn't even look up as I approached. I stood there for a moment, unsure of what to say. This was the boy who always found me with that lazy grin, the one who cracked jokes I pretended not to laugh at. The one who annoyed me into smiling. Now, he looked like a ghost of of himself.
"Adrian," I said softly.
He stiffened.
"Hey… I just wanted to say—"
"I'm fine," he said quickly, voice clipped. "You don't need to check on me."
