Introduction

Everyone at school thinks they know Aspen.

The quiet girl.

The one who works after school, keeps her grades up, and never causes trouble.

What they don't know is that every morning begins in a house filled with tension and fear, where raised voices and slammed doors are just part of life. Aspen moves carefully through it all, making sure her brothers are okay, shielding them as best she can from the chaos. She carries the weight of a family that isn't hers to hold, all while pretending everything is fine.

For years, Aspen has secretly admired Kingston Bennett-her best friend's handsome, wealthy older brother. He's everything she thought she wanted: kind, confident, and seemingly untouchable.

Then Hills High shuts down.

When the seniors from the county's roughest school are transferred after Thanksgiving break, everyone expects fights, trouble, and chaos. No one has a worse reputation than Kade Easton-the boy with bruised knuckles, too many suspensions, and a name everyone already fears.

But the rumors don't tell the whole story.

Behind Kade's hard exterior is a boy carrying scars of his own, and behind Aspen's quiet smile is a girl who's spent her entire life surviving.

As their worlds collide, Aspen begins to realize that first impressions can be painfully wrong, and that sometimes the people who seem the most broken are the only ones who truly understand