Chapter One.
A Boy at Ravenridge.
The hardest part about pretending to be a boy wasn’t the haircut.
It was standing at my brother’s grave six weeks after his death and promising myself I would find out who killed him.
I had kept that promise.
That was how I ended up standing outside Ravenridge College with my hair cut short, my chest tightly bound beneath a school shirt, and a fake name printed on every document in my bag.
Evan Carter.
I repeated it silently.
Evan Carter.
Not Serena Sinclair.
Not Julian Sinclair’s little sister.
Just another boy starting at Ravenridge.
The massive iron gates opened in front of me.
I stared at them for a moment.
Julian had walked through those gates every morning for three years.
He never walked out.
My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag.
“Are you going in or just admiring the gate?”
I looked to my side.
A boy about my age was staring at me.
He had an easy smile and a school bag hanging from one shoulder.
“I’m going in.”
“Good.” He stepped aside dramatically. “Because standing there was beginning to look suspicious.”
I gave him a confused look.
He laughed.
“I’m Theo.”
“Evan.”
He held out his hand.
I shook it.
“New?”
I nodded.
“First day?”
Another nod.
Theo looked at me for a second.
“You don’t talk much.”
“I do.”
“When?”
“When necessary.”
He grinned.
“I think we’re going to get along.”
I wasn’t so sure.
But somehow, I found myself smiling.
Theo took my bag before I could protest.
“Come on. I’ll show you around.”
We walked into the courtyard.
Ravenridge was bigger than I had imagined.
Three main academic buildings surrounded a large green field. Students moved everywhere, some rushing to class, others sitting beneath trees or arguing over a football.
It looked like an ordinary college.
That almost made it worse.
Because somewhere in this place was the last piece of my brother’s life.
And I had no idea where to start looking.
Theo pointed toward one of the buildings.
“That’s the academic block.”
I looked up.
My heart gave a painful squeeze.
Julian had spent most of his time there.
I remembered him complaining about early classes.
I remembered stealing his notes.
I remembered him telling me that one of his professors talked for so long that even the walls looked bored.
I swallowed.
“What’s wrong?”
Theo’s voice pulled me back.
“Nothing.”
He shrugged.
“Okay.”
We continued walking.
A boy walked past us carrying several books.
Theo called after him.
“Zane!”
The boy stopped.
He turned around slowly.
“What?”
“This is Evan.”
Zane looked at me.
“New student?”
“Yeah.”
“Welcome.”
“Thanks.”
Zane nodded and walked away.
I looked at Theo.
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“The conversation.”
Theo laughed.
“That’s Zane. You’ll get used to it.”
I smiled.
Maybe I would.
We reached the dormitory building.
Theo stopped in front of a noticeboard.
“North House.”
My eyes moved down the list of names.
Then I found mine.
Carter, Evan — Room 16.
I let out a quiet breath.
One step closer.
Theo leaned over my shoulder.
“Oh.”
“What?”
“You got Xavier.”
I looked at him.
“Who?”
Theo’s smile became mischievous.
“Your roommate.”
Before I could ask anything else, someone spoke behind us.
“Theo.”
We turned.
The boy standing there was tall, dark-haired, and carrying a basketball beneath one arm.
He looked at Theo first.
Then at me.
His expression was calm.
“Who’s this?”
“Evan Carter,” Theo said. “Your new roommate.”
The boy looked at me again.
For some reason, I suddenly became painfully aware of everything.
My uniform.
My voice.
My hands.
The way I was standing.
I forced myself to relax.
“Xavier Reed,” he said.
I nodded.
“Evan.”
“I know.”
Theo laughed.
“Great introduction.”
Xavier ignored him.
He picked up one of my bags.
“Room 16?”
“Yeah.”
“Come on.”
He started walking.
I followed.
For the first time that morning, I wasn’t thinking about Julian.
I was thinking about the fact that I was about to share a room with a boy.
A boy who knew absolutely nothing about me.
And if I wanted to stay at Ravenridge, I needed to make sure it stayed that way.
We reached Room 16.
Xavier opened the door.
Two beds.
Two desks.
One wardrobe.
One tiny bathroom.
I stared at it.
Xavier dropped my bag onto the empty bed.
“You can take that one.”
“Thanks.”
He nodded and started unpacking.
I stood there awkwardly.
This was it.
My new life.
My new name.
My new school.
My new roommate.
I sat on the bed and slowly exhaled.
Then Xavier glanced over.
“You look nervous.”
I looked at him.
“First day.”
He smiled slightly.
“You’ll be fine.”
For some reason, those three words hit harder than they should have.
Because nobody had told me I’d be fine since Julian died.
I looked away.
“Yeah.”
Xavier returned to unpacking.
I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone.
Julian’s last message was still there.
Don’t believe what they tell you.
I locked the screen.
I had come to Ravenridge for one reason.
To find the truth.
But as I looked around the room I would now share with Xavier Reed, one thought suddenly occurred to me.
I had planned for everything.
The fake identity.
The disguise.
The investigation.
Everything.
Except one thing.
How was I supposed to live with a boy without letting him discover I wasn’t one?
