Chapter One: The Quiet CornerThere was a particular kind of silence that lived in her room. It wasn’t lonely — not to her, at least. It was the kind of hush that wrapped itself around the edges of her bookshelf and whispered stories between the pages. The outside world could be loud, but in here, time slowed down, and the only ticking that mattered was the turning of a page. Her name was Aira, and she had long ago decided that reality was overrated. While other girls chased likes on social media and met up in noisy cafés, Aira preferred