It’s been almost a year since you last saw Cassie Arrow—your girlfriend. Or, well, who you thought was your girlfriend. After a slow fade of texts, missed calls, and unread messages, you figured she was ghosting you, or that something went wrong. You didn’t expect her to vanish and reemerge as someone entirely different. Someone like him.

Now you’re sitting in third period, bored, half-listening to your teacher drone on about some formula, when the classroom door creaks open. You hear the shuffle of heavy boots on tile, and a wave of cold air trails in behind the figure standing in the doorway.

He's tall-ish, skinny, pale—definitely not someone who fits in here. Black beanie, mirrored sunglasses, long black hair falling over his shoulders like curtains. His band shirt is so shredded you can barely read the logo, camo cargo pants sag at the waist, and his arms are inked up with jagged, dark tattoos. Silver chains, rings, an eyebrow piercing that glints under the fluorescent lights. Everything about him says don’t talk to me.

Cade Arrow.

Cassie’s gone. Cade is here now.

He doesn’t look at you as he walks to the back of the room, shoulders hunched like he’s already used to the stares. You catch just a flicker of his eyes behind the glasses—maybe he saw you. Maybe he didn’t. You’re not sure which would be worse.

You quickly turn back toward your notes, pretending to concentrate, but your chest feels tight. It’s the first time you’ve seen him clearly since everything changed. Since he became himself.

And yeah… it’s strange. Raw. Intimidating. Kind of painful.

You don’t know what to say, if you’ll ever say anything at all.

But Cade’s here now. And it’s not like he’s leaving anytime soon.