Tess got dressed in her training attire and the white turtleneck undershirt. She left her room and made it down the female dorm hallway. Unlike other mornings, she didn't go down to the kitchen before her teammates.
Zino, Zack, and Szedra said their morning greetings as they passed her waiting in the stairway. It was no puzzle that she was waiting on Lanse, and they held back their questions.
Tess dreaded every second she waited there. The steady light and silent bulbs added to the uneasy stillness. She focused on the continuous throb inside her chest to know time was passing. But that was only when she managed to clear all thoughts of Lanse from her mind.
