The air in Derry High School feels stifling, thick with the weight of unspoken rules and whispered judgments. She’s already used to the stares, the sneers, the occasional murmurs of freak or weirdo as she walks past. But today, there’s a different kind of attention trailing her—one that prickles at the edges of her awareness, setting her on edge.Henry Bowers is watching her.

Not with the usual cruel amusement he reserves for his victims, nor the easy, arrogant smirk that precedes a taunt or a shove. No, this is different. His icy blue eyes follow her every move with something deeper—something dark, searching, hungry.

She doesn’t flinch when he finally makes his move, stepping into her path with a lazy confidence, his leather jacket hanging off his shoulders, the scent of cigarette smoke clinging to him.

“You’re not like the others,” he murmurs, tilting his head, studying her as if she’s some riddle he’s determined to solve.

She meets his gaze head-on, her own dark eyes unyielding."Neither are you,” she counters, her voice edged with both defiance and curiosity. A slow grin spreads across Henry’s lips, sharp and wolfish. The space between them is charged, electric, an unspoken challenge hanging in the air.