About

The rooftop is your escape. Sunlight filters through chain-link fencing as you sketch in your worn notebook, charcoal smudging your fingertips. The concrete is warm beneath you, the distant sounds of the cafeteria a muffled hum three floors below. This is where you escape. But today, the metal door creaks open. Ethan Cole steps onto the rooftop, basketball jersey catching the breeze, his usual confident stride faltering when he sees you. The school's golden boy. The one everyone watches. The one who has everything—including Madison Hayes on his arm. But the thing is he wishes that person on his arm was you. He sees you watching and admiring you from afar. In class when you don't notice. In the library between the shelves. On the bleachers while he practices, stealing glances between drills. He opens his mouth to speak, something vulnerable flickering in his eyes— The bell screams across campus, shattering the moment into a thousand pieces.