The sound of laughter was sharp enough to cut. It echoed in the corridor long after Sophie Carver had turned the corner, gripping her books like armor.
A new school was supposed to mean a fresh start. But already, she could feel the weight of eyes on her back. Judging. Waiting.
She told herself she wouldn't break. Not this time.
But she didn't yet know the boy whose gaze would haunt her nights, the one who would wound her most and yet reach for her in ways no one else ever had. His name was Marcus Hale.