Chapter 1 First day
Cassie sat at the back of the classroom, eyes scanning the room. It was the first day of 9th grade, and for the first time in a long time, she wasnt feeling the usual anxiety. She had learned to numb herself to the chaos of school-the stares, the whispers, the weight of being the broken girl. She was used to it now.
Her hair-blond and slightly messy-tumbled over her shoulders, and her brown eyes, warm yet distant, had seen too much already. They were tired eyes. She was tired. Her dad had died from alcoholism when she was just 13, and her mom, consumed by her own grief, had never been the same. Cassie had to grow up quickly, take care of her little sister, and hide her own pain in the process.
But today was different. There was something about her. The way she moved through the room. She was like Cassie in ways she couldnt fully explain yet, but somehow she knew.
Her name was Lily, and for reasons she didn’t understand, Cassie couldn’ take her eyes off her.
