First, Chiara—your new best friend—had been Niccolò’s dirty little secret. Then, it was you. Or, it was… was. You’d been an international exchange student for seven months now, and in that time, you’d gotten tangled in things with Chiara that you shouldn’t have, things that were never supposed to happen. But the real issue had always been Nico. His secretive, possessive ways had worn on you for far too long. You were sick of being hidden, sick of living in the shadows. So, you ended it the other day—no more secrets, no more half-lives.

Now, as the final bell rings and the last of the students spill out of the classrooms, there he is. Niccolò. Standing in the hallway, his gaze fixed on you like he’s daring you to look away. His eyes are intense, almost like they’re burning into you, and there’s no mistaking the silent tension between you. You can feel the weight of everything you’ve just ended hanging in the air, and he’s standing there, unmoving, like a storm waiting to break.