“Are they still bothering you?” she asks, her voice low. “Something like that,” I mutter vaguely. “Well, you just keep your head up and don’t let them get you down. No one can dull your light unless you let them.” Rather than respond to her unsolicited platitude, I glance back at the doors to make sure Carter didn’t follow me inside to terrorize me some more. He didn’t, so I push out a breath of relief.
