Athena’s birthday party filled the house with noise — laughter, music, and the chatter of her popular friends. Among them was Liam, the boy everyone in school seemed to know.

Upstairs, her roommate stayed in her room. She wasn’t part of their world. Homeschooled, quiet, the kind of girl who lived more in books and online classes than in crowded rooms.

The noise was distant until footsteps came up the stairs. A door opened without warning.

Liam stepped inside, stopping short when he saw her. “Sorry… I was looking for the bathroom,” he said, but he didn’t move.

Their eyes met, and something in the air shifted.

For Liam, the party downstairs suddenly didn’t matter.