Elaine's POV
How time flies when you don't want it to.
Today is my engagement day.
The thought hits me the second I open my eyes. Settled in my chest like something I swallowed and never digested.
I lie there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling, listening to the soft hum of the house waking up around me. Distant footsteps. A door opening. Someone running water.
Normal sounds for a day that doesn't feel normal at all.
I sit up slowly, careful. The dizziness has been coming and going more lately, and I don't feel like starting the morning on the floor. Once the room steadies, I swing my legs off the bed and stand.
Still upright. Good.
There's a knock on the door before I can even take two steps.
"Elaine?" Ivy's voice.
"Yeah," I call. "I'm up."
She doesn't wait. The door opens and she slips inside like she's been holding her breath outside.
"Okay," she says, clapping her hands once. "No panicking. No disappearing."
I arch a brow. "You say that like it's an option."
