---
Chapter 1: First Day Back
The morning air clung heavy and warm, the kind that promised another restless September day in Crescent Ridge. Yellow buses screeched to halts along the curb, unloading streams of teenagers in new sneakers, crisp clothes, and voices that tumbled over one another in excitement. To most of them, the first day back at school was a chance to show off, to remind the world they had survived the summer and returned sharper, cooler, louder.
For sofia willow it was nothing of the sort. She wanted the opposite of attention. After moving across state lines again she had mastered the art of blending into the background. A new school meant reinvention, and she had promised herself that this time she wouldn't get caught in trouble, wouldn't let anyone too close, and wouldn't be the girl who stumbled into secrets best left untouched. Her father's job had dragged them to Crescent Ridge, a quiet town with a name that sounded innocent enough. Yet Sofia couldn't shake the unease that prickled the back of her neck the moment they'd driven past the school's looming football field.
She adjusted the strap of her backpack and walked through the gates. Crescent Ridge High was massive three red-bricked buildings forming a horseshoe around the courtyard. At its heart, the football field stretched wide, the bleachers casting long, skeletal shadows across the grass. It was strange, she thought, how the field seemed more alive than the students themselves. From beneath the bleachers, the faint clang of metal and a hollow echo drifted, as though something moved in the dark below. Sofia told herself it was probably nothing maintenance workers, a stray cat but her pace quickened anyway.
She clutched her schedule tighter. The sooner she found her first class, the sooner she could disappear into routine.
That was when she saw him.
He stood across the courtyard, half-hidden in the shade of the west building, surrounded by three boys who looked just as untouchable as he did. Broad-shouldered, sharp-eyed, their postures carried the kind of arrogance that came with knowing everyone noticed you. But it was him who caught Sofia's breath.
Tall, lean, with dark hair that fell across his forehead, he was quiet while the others laughed and nudged one another. He didn't need to speak to draw attention his stillness was enough. He leaned against the wall like a shadow carved into stone, watching the crowd with a gaze that seemed to pierce right through the noise.
And then, his eyes met hers
Sofia froze mid-step. It wasn't just that he was striking it was the intensity in the way he looked at her, like he was seeing something beneath her skin. His lips curved, the faintest suggestion of a smirk, as though he already knew a secret she hadn't even told herself. Heat rushed to her cheeks. She forced her eyes away, fumbling with her backpack strap, pretending to be fascinated by the ground.
Her heartbeat thudded hard against her ribs as she hurried inside.
The hallways were a blur of lockers slamming and voices echoing, but Sofia couldn't shake the image of him. His gaze had followed her, she was certain. It wasn't the kind of attention she wanted. She had sworn she'd keep her head down, but that one look felt like a thread had been pulled tight between them, one that might unravel everything she had carefully planned.
She slipped into her first classroom and slid into a seat near the back. A few students gave her curious glances, sizing up the new girl, but no one spoke. Sofia was grateful for the anonymity. Pulling out her notebook, she tried to steady herself, telling herself it was nothing just a boy, just a look. Yet her chest still buzzed with unease.
Outside, a whistle shrieked from the football field. The sound carried through the open window, followed by the heavy thud of running feet. And beneath that ordinary noise came something else low, guttural, like a growl muffled by distance.Sofia stiffened, staring at the window. No one else in the class reacted.
Maybe she had imagined it. Maybe Crescent Ridge was just another town, another school. Maybe this time would be different.
But deep down, Sofia knew better. From the moment she stepped onto campus, she had felt it the shadows under the bleachers, the boy with the eyes that burned like secrets, the growl no one else seemed to hear. Crescent Ridge High was not ordinary. And neither, it seemed, was she.
--