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I’ll go first,” Miles says. He steps toward the abandoned house slowly, pushing open the creaking door. One foot disappears into the darkness, then the other. His massive metal wings fold tightly behind him as the shadows swallow him whole. “Miles?” I whisper. No answer. I push the door open farther. It groans loudly, like the house itself is warning me to stay away. Dust hangs in the stale air, settling over furniture hidden beneath yellowed white sheets. A muffled sound echoes somewhere deeper inside. I force myself forward. The floorboards creak beneath every step, making my stomach twist tighter. Doorways blur past as I search for him. Finally, I reach the back of the house. A large open room stretches before me, lit only by thin beams of sunlight slipping through boarded windows. Dust drifts through the light like floating ash. Something glistens in the corner. I squint through the haze and pull one of the loose boards aside, letting more light spill into the room. Then I see her. Violet. She’s tied against the wall, blood running from the side of her head. A rag is shoved into her mouth. Her eyes are closed. “Miles” He’s beside her. Blue blood drips down his arm as slimy black snakes coil around his body, pinning him against the wall. His eyes lock onto mine, helpless. I run toward them, but more snakes writhe across the floor, slithering over my shoes. That was the first moment I truly felt helpless. Not just afraid. Helpless. How was I supposed to save my friends, when I could barely understand who I was myself? I guess I should start at the beginning. I stare at my reflection in the mirror and pull my shoulders back. “I don’t look too bad, I guess.” Then I notice the pimple rising right in the middle of my forehead. “Perfect.” The little brown squirrel clung to the oak branch outside my window, twitching its tail while it watched me. “Hey, buddy,” I whispered. My environmental science project flashed through my mind. “Oh crap.” I scrambled for my phone. We were supposed to photograph something from nature over summer break, and somehow I’d managed to procrastinate until the literal last day. “Please don’t move,” I begged quietly. I leaned farther out the window, balancing one hand on the oak branch while stretching my other arm toward the squirrel. Almost got it... BANG. Something slammed against the side of the house. I jerked so hard I lost my balance. “Whoa!” The world tilted beneath me. Then two strong hands grabbed my legs. “I got you.” Dave. I let out a shaky breath as he pulled me safely back inside. “Thanks,” I muttered, pressing a hand against my racing heart. “What were you doing?” he asked, laughing nervously. “You almost launched yourself two stories onto the lawn.” “I needed the squirrel picture for science.” Dave shook his head, smiling as he checked outside the window. “Well, breakfast before your death-defying adventures continue.” I groaned dramatically and followed him downstairs. The smell of toast and honey drifted through the kitchen. Mom was already floating around barefoot in one of her long floral dresses, moving through the kitchen like she was dancing instead of walking. “Opal,” she sighed when she saw me. “Please tell me you’re not wearing that.” I looked down at my jeans and old band shirt. “What’s wrong with this?” “It’s the first day of tenth grade.” She set a plate down in front of me. “I bought you beautiful dresses.” “Mom, I like this.” I dropped into my chair. “I just want to feel like myself.” She smiled softly, though I could tell she was disappointed. My mom always looked like she belonged in another decade. Long strawberry-blonde waves, silver rings on every finger, smelling permanently of coconut oil and incense. Her real name was Margaret. But years ago, after tarot cards and healing crystals entered her life, she renamed herself Star. And because I was born in October, she named me Opal. Honestly, if I’d been born in December, I probably would’ve ended up named Topaz. Dave snorted into his coffee like he’d read my mind. Mom slid toast covered in thick golden honey toward me. The second I tasted it, warmth spread through my chest. It melted in my mouth like sunlight. I had no idea where she got this honey from. It always came in plain jars with no labels, probably traded during one of her tarot readings. Whatever. It was amazing. A knock sounded at the front door. “Violet!” I grabbed my backpack. Dave stopped me before I could run out and quietly slipped something into my hand beneath the table. A crystal. I looked up at him. “That’s twice you almost died today,” he whispered. “Be careful, sweets"

Bye, Opal! Be good today!” Mom called after me.

I rolled my eyes while pulling the front door open.

Outside, the late summer air still carried warmth, though the leaves had already started turning at the edges. Violet leaned against the porch railing with giant headphones over her purple hair.

My jaw dropped.

“Violet! Your hair!”

A grin spread across her face. “You like it?”

“It’s amazing. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.” She shrugged. “New year. New chaos.”

“That definitely screams chaos.”

She laughed and looped her arm through mine as we headed toward school.

We passed the zoo at the end of my street, and the animals sounded louder than usual. Birds screeched somewhere in the distance while something heavy slammed against metal.

I glanced toward the fence.

Weird.

“Hey, Opie!”

I froze.

Only one person ever called me Opie.

I turned around just as someone jogged toward us.

“Jon?”

He slowed to a stop in front of me, slightly out of breath, and for a second my brain completely stopped working.

Because this was definitely not the awkward middle-school version of Jon Cooper I remembered.

His dirty blond hair curled around his ears now, longer than before, and his dark blue eyes practically glowed in the morning sunlight.

“Wow,” Violet said behind me. “California was good to you.”

Jon laughed. “Good to see you too.”

I tried to say something normal, but my brain refused to cooperate.

“What are you doing here?”

“My dad moved back.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Guess you’re stuck with me again.”

I hated how hot my face suddenly felt.

Violet snorted beside me.

“Oh no,” she said dramatically. “Opal’s blushing already.”

“I am not.”

“You are.”

Jon smiled at me, and somehow that made it worse.

We started walking toward school together like no time had passed at all.

And honestly?

It should’ve felt normal.

Jon used to sit with Violet and me at lunch every day in middle school. We built blanket forts in my room. Ate powdered donuts until we felt sick. Talked about leaving town someday and seeing the ocean.

But now everything felt different.

Maybe because he looked different.

Or maybe because suddenly I noticed things I never used to before.

Like the way his smile tilted slightly to one side.

Or how his voice had gotten deeper.

Or how unfairly good he looked in black jeans.

“Opal!”

I blinked.

Violet and Jon were both staring at me.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve been silently staring into space for like thirty seconds,” Violet said.

“I was thinking.”

“That’s dangerous.”

Before I could answer, someone stepped beside me.

“Hey.”

Miles.

Relief instantly settled in my chest.

His dark curls fell into his eyes as usual, and his oversized jean jacket looked half destroyed like he’d slept in it for three days.

But the second he smiled at me, everything felt calmer.

I threw my arms around him automatically.

“Hi.”

He hugged me back tightly for half a second before pulling away and studying my face carefully.

Miles always looked at people like he was trying to read things they weren’t saying.

Then his eyes shifted toward Jon.

Something in his expression changed.

Not really angry.

Just cautious i guess.

“This is Jon,” I said quickly. “We used to be friends before he moved.”

Jon held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

Miles shook it slowly.

“You too.”

The two of them stared at each other a second longer than necessary.

Violet leaned toward me.

“Oh, this is going to become a problem,” she whispered.

I elbowed her hard.

“Ow!”

But honestly?

She wasn’t wrong.

The four of us climbed the front steps toward Lincoln High together while students crowded around the entrance.

First day.

Same school.

Same town.

But suddenly it felt like everything was changing.