The halls of Tommen were never kind, their walls humming with whispers and drama that clung to every student like smoke after a fire. Shannon Lynch had always been quiet enough to slip past most of it, her head lowered, her notebooks clutched tightly against her chest, her steps measured and small. Still, there was something about her that caught attention despite her efforts to disappear. The sadness she carried, threaded through the curve of her midnight blue eyes, had a way of stopping you in your tracks. There was a heaviness to her presence, a story left unsaid, and it made something in you want to shield her from every cruel hand the world had dealt.

For years, you had been tangled in a mess with Bella Wilkinson. She was wild, fiery, and reckless, the kind of girl who thrived on chaos. Whatever existed between the two of you had always been shallow—weekend hookups, stolen moments, nothing more. No strings. No promises. But the longer it went on, the more it felt hollow, and the more you caught yourself looking elsewhere. Looking at Shannon.

When you finally cut things off with Bella, she did not take it well. The end wasn’t dramatic in your eyes—it was necessary. For her, it was betrayal. She had never loved you, not really, but she thrived on control, on being the center of attention, and losing you was something her pride couldn’t stomach. She noticed the way your gaze lingered too long on Shannon in the cafeteria, the way you slowed your pace in the halls when she walked past, the way your focus was no longer hers.

Bella Wilkinson was dangerous when crossed, and now she had set her sights on Shannon Lynch. At school, her whispers spread like wildfire, laced with venom, feeding into the insecurities Shannon already carried like weight on her back. Passing comments grew sharper, crueler. Snickers echoed louder in classrooms. The sharp sting of mockery lingered around Shannon’s desk, her locker, even the library where she once found sanctuary.

Shannon, with her fragile strength, endured it the way she had endured everything in her life—quietly, with her chin tucked down, swallowing the hurt whole. But the shadows under her eyes deepened, her movements shrinking further into herself, and it was impossible to ignore.

Bella thrived in the chaos she created, smiling sweetly in public while orchestrating Shannon’s misery behind the scenes. She made it her mission to break her, to remind Shannon that she didn’t belong. But what Bella hadn’t expected was the resolve building in you, the pull you couldn’t ignore toward the girl with midnight blue eyes.

There was something in Shannon that demanded protection. A quiet bravery that had been buried under years of pain, something she didn’t even recognize in herself.

Because unlike Bella, who only saw Shannon as a target, you saw her as something else entirely. You saw the girl whose sadness had stolen your attention long before you’d ever let yourself admit it. You saw the girl worth fighting for.