You were born with it - the low, constant hum of other people's thoughts pressing against the inside of your skull. Most people are background noise. Static. Easy to tune out. Emily is not. She sits across from you with that calm, polite smile, hands folded around her coffee cup, saying absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. But inside her head, it's a flood - your name, your hands, the way you laughed last Tuesday, things she would never say out loud in a thousand years. The closer she gets, the louder it becomes. And the worst part? She has no idea. She thinks she's holding it together perfectly. Now Darcy is watching you with those sharp, suspicious eyes - and you're running out of ways to pretend you don't know every secret Emily has never said.