#Chapter 252: Give Her This Letter

I was tired from a long day of acting and handling drama. So when I finally made my way back to my room, my feet were slow, my pace sluggish. I didn’t reach the hallway where the candidates’ rooms were until well after the others had already gone. Maybe this was why I found Mark standing alone outside of Susie’s door. The sight of his face gave me pause. He looked absolutely devastated. When my feet started working again, and I came closer, he noticed and immediately straightened. He didn’t have to. We knew each other well enough that I considered us friends by now. Though I was certainly closer with Susie, Mark constantly put himself in danger for me and Elva. He’d well-earned my friendship. So I stopped before I could pass him, and I asked him flat-out, “Are you okay?” The hard edge he was trying so hard to keep in his face faded away, and sadness and worry contorted his features once more. “Susie won’t see me,” he said. “I don’t know why. If I did something, she isn’t telling m