Los Angeles, California.At Westbrook High, everyone knows two rules:If you hear a bike, move.And if Kaiden Romano looks at you, don’t look back.*KAIDEN “KAI” ROMANO — 18*Cold. Quiet. Dangerous.Every morning, he rides into school on a black bike, leather jacket, one earpiece in, face like he doesn’t care about anyone.Teachers don’t correct him. Students don’t come close to him. He bullies who he wants, when he wants, and no one dares to say a word.But no one knows the truth about his home.Kai lives in a huge mansion in Beverly Hills. Beautiful from the outside, cold on the inside.His father — *Damian Romano* — is a mafia boss. The kind of man people fear just by hearing his name. His mother — *Elena Romano* — is not a soft woman at all. She is the brain behind everything.In that house, love is weakness. Crying is a crime. Kai grew up learning how to fight, how to hide his emotions, how to trust no one.So he carried that coldness into school.The only soft things he has? His bike, and his little sister who he protects like glass.Everyone thinks Kai has everything.Only Kai knows he has nothing.*ARIA BENNETT — 18*New girl. New town. New life.Aria just moved to Los Angeles with her parents from a small quiet town.Her father — *Daniel Bennett* — is a delivery man. He wakes up at 5am every day, carrying parcels up and down under the sun. Her mother — *Sarah Bennett* — runs a small food delivery business from their home kitchen. They don’t have a mansion. They don’t have a big car.But their small two-bedroom house? It is the warmest house in the world.In their house, they laugh at dinner. They pray together. They hug. Aria grew up with love — so much of it.She is not a rich girl. She is not popular. She is simple, soft, pretty, with big brown eyes that look like they can see through a person.And she has one thing no one at Westbrook has — she is not afraid of Kai.She doesn’t know him yet.She doesn’t know her life is about to change.---That morning, Aria stood in front of the Westbrook High gate, holding her bag tight.Big school. Big cars. Big people.She whispered to herself: “Just survive today, Aria.”At that same moment, on the other side of the road —*VROOOM.*A black bike stopped. Everyone cleared the way.Kai took off his helmet and looked up...And for one second — just one second — his cold grey eyes met hers.She didn’t look away.He frowned slightly. "Who is this girl who isn’t afraid of me?"

Amanda is 16, and she hates reading. Until one rainy day in New York, she opens an old, dusty book in her school library... and the book OPENS HER.One page, and she is gone. One minute she is in an old village where nobody knows her name. Next minute she is in Texas 2040, where cars fly and her own face is on a wanted poster.The book is not just telling a story. It is eating people.And if Amanda does not find the last page before the book closes... She will never come home again.The Book That Swallowed Me - A time-travel fantasy about a girl who must finish the story to survive it.