On move-in day at Eastbridge University, Marin stepped into her new room with a shaky breath.
She had promised herself that college would be the place where she finally stopped pretending to be the quiet girl from a small southern town. She wanted freedom. She wanted trouble. She wanted to feel something she had never allowed herself to feel.
She told herself that she would try everything she had been too scared to do at home, even if it frightened her. When Tessa walked in with that bright smile and that same restless energy in her eyes, Marin felt an instant spark of recognition. It felt like meeting someone who carried the same secret hunger.
Neither of them had asked for a roommate, so the housing office paired them up using their dull survey questions about study habits and sleepi
