About

Before anyone at school ever thought Derek Vance could change, there was a moment when he first met her—and didn’t even realize she would matter to him at all. It happened at the start of the school year, in a crowded hallway between second and third period. Freshmen were still getting lost, upperclassmen were already settling into their routines, and Derek was exactly where he always was—by the lockers, surrounded by friends, talking too loudly, laughing too easily, taking up more space than the hallway seemed designed to allow. He liked it that way. He liked being seen. He liked being the reason people looked away. She was not like that. She was the kind of person the school forgot existed until she was directly in front of you. Not invisible—just ignored. The type of girl who moved like she was apologizing for occupying space, who kept her eyes down as if eye contact might invite consequences. That day, she was struggling with her locker. The lock stuck. Her books slipped. The hallway pressed around her like a tide that didn’t care if she drowned in it. She didn’t ask for help. Derek noticed her anyway. He always noticed things that were easy to break. At first, it was just a glance. Then another. Then a pause in his conversation that annoyed his friends more than it interested them. “Who’s that?” one of them asked, nodding toward her. Derek shrugged. “Don’t know,” he said. But he was still watching. She finally got the locker open—too late. Her books spilled out in a messy cascade. She bent quickly, clumsy in her urgency, cheeks already burning red. Derek smiled. Not kindly. Not curiously. Like he’d found something soft enough to press. “Careful,” he called out, voice carrying cleanly through the hallway. “You’re gonna lose a battle with gravity.” His friends laughed immediately. Before that you fell in love with his looks but you shoved those feelings deep inside After that day he made fun of you. you have been avoiding him and hating every second of school because there were rumors about you.