Ava should have seen it coming.
The moment she walked into school the next morning, the weight of it pressed down on her chest, a slow suffocation she couldn’t shake. Eyes followed her, whispers curling through the air like smoke. Something was wrong.
Then she saw him.
Asher leaned against the lockers at the far end of the hall, arms crossed over his broad chest, watching her with a smirk that sent a chill down her spine. It wasn’t his usual arrogance—it was worse. Calculated. Like he had all the time in the world to burn her alive.
Dread slithered down her spine, but she forced herself forward, head held high, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her break.
The moment she reached her locker, he moved. Fast. A blur of motion until he was right behind her, close enough that
