chapter 1
330 Words
The air in the intensive care unit always smelled like bleach and failed hope.
Caroline stood by the window, watching the rain streak down the glass like tears she refused to shed. Behind her, the rhythmic beep-hiss of the ventilator was the only proof that her twin brother, Carl, was still in the room.
Carl was the artist. He was the one who noticed the way light hit the oak trees in autumn; he was the one who carried extra pens in his pocket just in case someone else forgot theirs. Now, his hands—the hands that drew worlds better than the one they lived in—were covered in bandages.
"They called it an accident, Carl's best friend, Toby, whispered from the doorway. His voice was shaking. "They said he tripped in the chemistry lab. That the acid spill was just... bad luck."
Caroline turned, her eyes cold enough to freeze the humid air. "Who was there, Toby?"
Toby looked at his shoes. "You know who. The same people who’ve been making his life hell since freshman year. Jax Miller and his pack."
Jax Miller. The name felt like a bruise. He was the golden boy of Crestview High—captain of the football team, heir to a real estate empire, and a sociopath with a charming smile. He didn't just bully people; he dismantled them. He found the one thing you loved and turned it into a weapon against you.
"The school isn't doing anything?" Caroline asked, her voice dangerously calm.
"Jax’s dad just donated a new wing to the library, Caroline. Use your head. He’s untouchable."
Caroline walked to the bed and touched Carl's pale, limp hand. A silent promise formed in the space between her heartbeat and the machine's pulse. Jax Miller thought he was untouchable because he played a game where he wrote all the rules.
She was going to flip the board.
- Writer
