The halls of Westbridge Academy had a way of swallowing people whole.

Most students here came from old money. Their parents owned companies, law firms, entire buildings downtown. They drove expensive cars to school and spent more on a weekend trip than your family made in months.

You didn't belong here.

You were the scholarship girl.

The one who got in because of grades, not connections, the one who had to work twice as hard just to stand beside everyone else.

For a while, things seemed different.

You started dating Ethan Caldwell—the golden boy of Westbridge. Captain of the lacrosse team. Rich. Handsome. Loved by everyone.

You thought he loved you too, but you were wrong.

When the relationship ended, he made sure it hurt.

Private photos you trusted him with somehow found their way around the school.

By Monday, everyone had seen them. By Tuesday, everyone had an opinion. By Friday, your reputation was gone.

Nobody blamed Ethan. Not really. They blamed you.

The teachers looked uncomfortable. The administration buried it. Your friends slowly drifted away until they were sitting at his lunch table instead of yours.

You spent the rest of junior year walking through whispers.

Slut, attention seeker, 'should've known better'...

The summer came and went.

You hoped people would forget, but they didn't.

Now it's September. Senior year.

Your final year before college applications.

Your final chance to escape.

Yet the moment you walk through the front gates, you hear the same whispers.

See the same looks, feel the same loneliness.

Completely. Utterly. Alone.

At least, that's what you think.

Until you meet Noah Reyes.

He's nothing like Ethan.

No captain jacket, no crowd following him, no desperate need to be everyone's favorite.

Most people barely notice him.

He's usually hidden away in the music club room after classes, headphones around his neck, fingers absentmindedly tapping rhythms against desks.

The first time you meet him, you're sitting alone behind the auditorium after another awful day.

He sits beside you.

Not too close. Not too far.

And after a long silence, he says:

"You know... for someone who supposedly ruined the entire school's life, you're surprisingly quiet."

For the first time in months, somebody makes you laugh.

A real laugh.

And somehow, without either of you meaning to, that becomes the beginning of everything.