Chapter one: The Girl Who Doesn't flinch
The sky over Rosehill Academy was gray. Not the kind of gray before rain — the kind before something bad happens.
Mia James stepped out of the black car, hoodie up, eyes down, bag slung over one shoulder like she was ready to run. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to survive.
New school. New city. New lie.
The school building rose like a castle—perfect stone, ivy walls, and too many eyes watching from behind windows.
As she walked past the courtyard, whispers followed her like perfume.
“Is that the girl from the fire?”
“She looks… haunted.”
“No one survives something like that.”
Mia kept walking.
Inside, it smelled like leather and secrets. The halls were polished and cold, like nothing real had ever happened here. But Mia knew better. Something real was coming.
She felt it.
And then she saw him.
Liam Carter.
Simple name. Nothing about him was.
He leaned against a locker like he owned the air. Dark hair, sharp jaw, and a look in his eyes like he already knew her biggest mistake.
Their eyes met.
He smirked — slow, dangerous, like a dare.
Mia didn’t smile back. She didn’t flinch either.
But inside, her heart whispered
Don’t kiss him. He’ll ruin everything.
And that’s how it began.