Grief never fades. It just frames you differently.

Jimmy Harrow entered Willow Pines High School with nothing but sorrow in his chest and memories of the girl he loved buried in his notebook. But when he discovers a hidden art gallery beneath the school—one that paints portraits of the living before they vanish—his life takes a nightmarish turn.

Each drawing reveals a fate. Each frame seals it.

As Jimmy unravels the mystery, he begins to lose pieces of himself: his friends, his memories, and eventually his sanity. A new student, Emory Grail, arrives with eyes that don't blink and a sketchbook full of secrets. She's not just another teen. She's the next curator. And she's here to finish what the gallery started.

In a school where every hallway breathes, and every shadow hides a portrait waiting to be framed, Jimmy must choose: become the final piece in the gallery's twisted collection—or destroy the legacy that's been haunting Willow Pines for decades.

From acclaimed horror author Thomas Miller, The Rose of a Freshman is a darkly emotional descent into the psyche of grief, obsession, and the art that refuses to die.