As bsoon /bas the money arrived, Aria smiled faintly and contacted the store she’d usedst time to custom–order a brand new set of equipe?an?.

At Larkridge High School, the dismissal bell rang. Valerin packed up her stuff and looked at Lily. “Lily,e to my

“Okay, Ms. Gibbs Lily got up and followed her out.

The ssroom exploded into noise,

yoffied

Someone muttered, “Lily’s dad almost killed Nathan’s sister, and she’s still showing up to ss like nothing happened. Coldhearted much?”

“Shouldn’t she be considered bNathan’s /bsister’s savior, though?

“Honestly, it’s weird. Lily looked like she knew her dad was gonna snap. She bolted so fast.”

“I was there. I can vouch–it definitely looked like that.”

The ss buzzed with gossip, basically suggesting that yesterday’s whole thing had been staged by Lily and her dad, just to cozy up to the rich and powerful.

Suddenly, Nathan shoved bhis /bchair back, the screech cutting through the noise like a knife.

Nathan bred /bhard at the loudest guy and stormed out, tossing back a cold line. ” byou don’t /bknow what happened, shut the bhell /bup.”

“I don’t really like you. I don’t want your help. I don’t like you. Nathan could practically hear bthe /bwords pounding in his head.

Nathan cursed under his breath and kept walking until he found himself standing outside the teacher’s office.

bNathan /bmuttered another curse and was about to turn away when

Lily askedb, /b“Ms. Gibbs, can I ask for Nathan’s sister’s contact info? I need to return something to her.”

*Nathan probably has it. You can ask him,” Valerie replied

Lily asked again, “You don’t have it yourself?”

–

No, I really don’t,” Valerie said.

Lilly said, “Okay then.”

The conversation stopped. Nathan quickly tiptoed away, bscared /bbhe’d /bbbe /bused of eavesdropping

Nathan walked a few more steps, then turned back, humming ba /brandom tune and dragging his feet like he was just passing by.

Lily got closer and closer. Then, they brushed past each other.

Nathan stopped and turned to nce back. He thought maybe Lily would ask him for Aria’s contact info…bbut /bshe didn’t,

‘Maybe she thinks Aria and I have a terrible rtionship? It isn’t great, sure… but it isn’t so bad that-“Nathan thought.

Nathan bpaused/b. He thought he didn’t even bhave /bAria’s WhatsApp.

Pulling out his phone, Nathan opened a group chat, found Aria, and sent a friend request.

Nathan murmured, “She only came to the school because bof /bme. It’s normal to add her. Doesn’t mean I’m giving bin /b

After ss, Lily got back to the dorm. She didn’t hit the books again.

Instead, Lily climbed into bed, turned to face the wall, and shut her eyes, thinking about how to get Kathair to give

It was winter. Snow nketed everything. Ten–year–old Lily, dressed in thin clothes, shivered under a threadbare nket.

The sound of a key turning the lock made Lily jerk in feat. She clutched the nket tighter, her small body trembling

After a rustle of movement, the door was kicked open with force, Leon lifted the quilt and pulled her up.

The stench of alcohol hit her like a punch, followed by the sting of a bp /band a string of cursos. “Why the hell didn’t you heat the water? I bust my ass st day working and you can’t even do that much?”

Lily cried and shielded her head, exining through sobs, “bDad/b, the power’s out! I couldn’t!”

Loon kicked her hard, sending her crashing to the floor. “You’re just like your mom! Both of you wishing I was dead! She found herself a new man,ughing behind my back. What the hell was sheughing at? Huh? Answer mel”

ps, punches, and kicks rained down on Lily.

yaren’t byou /btalking now?” Leon kicked her again, rage twisting his face. “Tell me, if I killed you, would shee back?”

“Why a

Struggling to lift her head, Lily saw Leon storm into the kitchen.

Terror jolted through her. Lily scrambled up and bolted toward the door. She didn’t want to die.

Through the snow and the night, the little girl ran barefoot, falling, getting back up, running again.

Behind her, Leon’s drunken curses echoed louder and louder, but the houses grew smaller and smaller, and finally, there were no more people in sight

Then, Lily saw something she would never, ever forget. And she stopped dead in her tracks.