The squeal of skates on the ice. The roar of weekend parties. The shouts of fans in the stands and the endless chatter about who had won, who had lost, and most importantly: who was dating whom. On this campus, rumors spread faster than lecture notes. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who supposedly knew the truth. And usually, after three retellings, that truth was barely recognizable. I've only been here a few months, but I quickly learned that Briar has its own rules. At the top of this unspoken hierarchy, of course, was the hockey team. Not just because they won games. But because every single one of them had a story. Ethan Hayes was the captain. The guy everyone trusted. The one who defused arguments before they escalated, and who always knew what to say. For the campus, he was the perfect leader. But the longer I watched him, the more I wondered how long someone could be perfect before the facade began to crack. Then there was Mason Brooks. Loud, chaotic, and probably the reason half the campus was late for class at least once. He was everywhere at once, knew everyone, and turned every disaster into a laughing story. But sometimes I wondered if the guy who made everyone else laugh even knew when he was genuinely happy anymore. Noah Carter was the complete opposite. The goalie who lived like every day was a crucial final. Discipline, training, control. Most people thought he was cold, but the few who really knew him knew that behind that toughness was someone who overthought things way too much. And then there was Colin Fitzgerald. The one who was talked about the least—even though everyone wanted to talk about him. While the others were in the spotlight, Colin usually sat off to the side with his headphones on. He wasn't the type to seek attention. Maybe that was precisely why he got it. He seemed like someone who thought about the world more than he wanted to live in it. But Briar loved secrets. And Colin was one of them. Outside of the hockey team, of course, there were others who influenced campus life. Riley Morgan from the campus newspaper was probably the most dangerous person to look after if you had something to hide. She wasn't intimidated by any hockey player and had the uncanny ability to dismantle an entire story with a single sentence. Amber Holloway, on the other hand, was the opposite of Riley. Quiet, creative, and usually with paint on her hands. She brightened up the campus walls while noticing people others overlooked. Especially Colin. She seemed to be one of the few people who truly understood what was going on in his head. And then there was Leo Walker. The esports player who was probably the only person on campus who cared less about a hockey game than a new video game. Despite this, he was one of the most important people in Colin's life. The two could talk for hours about music, games, and some absurd internet theories, while the rest of the campus tried to figure out why they were even such close friends.

And well, there's me, the innocent new girl. Which wasn't actually so innocent... because I had started an anonymous blog where I wrote about every rumor, secret, and scandal I'd heard about.