It turned out he meant it. He said he wouldn’t be back, and he really didn’t come back.

The long summer break dragged on until, finally, it was the first morning of seventh grade at the Prep Academy. Eden Anderson wore a new dress, looking every bit the polished, put-together student as she headed to orientation. Before leaving, she tucked that pink envelope—the one holding the gym membership card—into a brand-new notebook, terrified that it might get crushed in the bustle.

The Prep Academy campus was a sea of noise. Throngs of freshmen and their parents were crowded around the red bulletin boards, craning their necks to check the class assignments. Eden’s mother paraded her around, forcing her to greet a stream of unfamiliar adults, all while bragging—with excruciating flair—about how bright and obedient her daughter was.

For the first time, Eden barely went through the motions of nodding and smiling at the hollow praise. Her eyes were laser-focused on the red board, scanning the dense columns of black text for the name she had fixated on for the entire summer. She read the list over and over, her heart hammering against her ribs, but the name she longed for simply wasn't there.

Panic, cold and sharp, began to prick at her skin.

It’s fine, she told herself. I just missed it. I’m not looking hard enough.

He had to be at the Prep Academy. He had told her so himself.

As the crowds thinned and her mother finally headed off to work after a barrage of final instructions, Eden stood alone in front of the board, drifting into a daze. Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder.

"Why are you only just now showing up!"

Eden whirled around, a mix of irritation and relief bubbling up, ready to snap at him. But the face staring back at her wasn't the one she had been praying to see.

"Hey, Eden," Juliet Clark said with a bright, easy smile.

Eden’s expression stiffened. She forced a polite, robotic greeting. She was dying to ask if Juliet had seen Lucas Powell, but Juliet beat her to the punch.

"It feels like everyone from our middle school is here at the Prep Academy—except for Lucas," Juliet complained, curling her lip. "I never thought he’d be the type to break a promise."

"Is Lucas... not coming?" Eden asked, her voice hitching.

"We live in the same neighborhood. I haven't seen him all summer. My parents heard from the neighbors that his family packed up and moved to the city right after school got out. They said he isn't coming back."

"He... he is?" Eden’s eyes went glassy, her world tilting on its axis.

He moved to the city. He wasn't coming back.

The sting in her nose was instant and sharp. She remembered the day they graduated elementary school; Lucas had stood behind her, shouting that if she didn't wait for him, he’d just leave on his own.

If he left, he wouldn't come back.

He hadn't been posturing or trying to get a rise out of her. He had meant every single word.

But how could he? How could he just pack up and vanish? How could he treat her like this?

The more she thought about it, the more her blood boiled. All that time she’d spent agonizing, all that waiting—it felt pathetic. If he didn't want to come back, fine. Who needed him anyway? She could survive just fine without him.

She blinked rapidly, pretending the wind had kicked up some grit, but the blurriness in her vision had nothing to do with dust. It was the crushing weight of having trusted someone who wasn't worth the effort.

"Eden, are you… are you okay?" Juliet asked, her voice laced with concern.

"I'm fine," Eden lied, rubbing her eyes and flashing a brittle smile. "Just something in my eye."

There was no dust. She had simply let a liar blind her.

She wasn't sure what was happening to her.

For the first month of school, she was the golden girl. Her homeroom teacher adored her, appointing her Class President on day one. Girls flocked to be her friend, and boys were constantly shoving letters or gifts into her desk. Academically, she was untouchable, consistently ranking first in her grade.

Everything about her new life was perfect. So why did she feel like she was drowning?

Her desk was a graveyard of snacks, trinkets, and love letters that she never bothered to open. Subconsciously, she knew there was nothing in that pile worth her time. Just as she knew, deep down, that the person she actually wanted to see would never walk through those classroom doors.

"Eden, I’ve realized something," her deskmate whispered one afternoon. "You’re only interested in studying. None of these guys even catch your eye."

Eden froze. A flash of a memory hit her—a boy with a cocky grin and a reckless attitude.

"If you're ever upset in the future, you can talk to me just like this."

"I think this version of you is pretty cute, Eden."

"How are you still so strong when you’re crying, Eden?"

"It’s hard to imagine that for the next few years, I’ll have to put up with your endless bullying."

Her head spun. Every memory of Lucas looped through her mind, vivid and relentless, making the ache in her chest unbearable.

Liar. You giant, monumental liar. I hate you more than anything in the world, Lucas Powell.

"Are you going to the museum for the historical exhibit this weekend?"

"There's an exhibit this weekend?"

"Yeah, it opened today. I heard all the seventh graders in the city are going today. I saw a dozen charter buses parked out front on my way in..."

The two girls walked past her desk, chatting away. Eden didn't think; she bolted out of her chair.

"I’m heading out," she told her deskmate. "If the teacher asks, tell her I felt sick and went to the nurse."

Before the girl could even process the words, Eden had grabbed her bag and sprinted out of the classroom. She scrambled toward the back fence of the school, intending to climb over. It wasn't as easy as the fences back in elementary school; she took a hard fall, twisting her ankle, but she didn't stop. She ignored the fire in her leg and kept running toward the museum.

She didn't feel the pain. She was burning with a singular, irrational rage. *Lucas, don't you dare let me catch you. If I catch you, I’m going to beat you black and blue, and then I’m dragging you back to this school, and I’m never letting you leave again.*

She reached the museum entrance, sprinted through the ticket line, and tore through the halls. She searched every room, fighting through the thick crowds and the drone of tour guides. She circled back again and again, but the face she wanted simply wasn't there.

As the crowds slowly thinned and the vast hall went quiet, Eden stood in the lobby, suddenly lost. What was she doing? She’d cut class, she’d definitely get in trouble with the teachers, her mother would demand to know where she’d been… her ankle was throbbing with a dull, sickening pain, and she’d probably be limping for days.

But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that she hadn't found him.

She couldn't find him.

"Tell me, where did you go after cutting class this afternoon?" Her mother sat on the living room sofa, arms folded, voice icy.

"I wasn't feeling well. I went to the nurse's office."

"The teacher sent a student to check on you. You weren't there. Were you out meeting some boy?" Her mother sneered, grabbing Eden’s bag and dumping it upside down. A shower of crumpled love letters hit the floor. "Explain this. Now."

"It’s nothing. They just shoved them in my desk. I don't care about them," Eden said, standing by the door. She felt hollow, stripped bare. The injury to her ankle sent a cold sweat down her back, but she felt no way out.

She thought of Lucas. *Lucas, my mom is yelling again. I’m so tired. My foot hurts so much. Where are you? Where are you? I can't find you.*

"Mom, I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking as she looked up. "The English teacher wants us to buy a new workbook. I forgot. Can I run to the bookstore before it closes?"

Her mother stared at her, weighing the truth, before finally nodding. "Go."

Eden pushed through the front door and exhaled, a ragged, desperate sound. She limped all the way to "The Hideaway," the little tea shop near her old school. She stared at their old booth for a long time before finally sinking into the seat Lucas used to occupy.

"What can I get you?" Miriam, the shop owner, walked over with a notepad. "The usual? Pearl milk tea?"

In the past, whenever she was with Lucas, she’d order the pearl milk tea. Lucas always preferred the jasmine green tea.

"I'll have a jasmine green tea, please," Eden said, looking up.

Miriam paused, then gave a soft, knowing smile. "And where’s that handsome boy who always came with you?"

"He moved to the city for school," Eden said.

"The city is good. Great schools up there," Miriam remarked.

Eden forced a small, painful smile and stayed silent.

"See that girl in the corner?" Miriam gestured toward a student studying intently. "She's in ninth grade, goes to the Prep Academy."

"They say the best high school in the city, the Academy, has a special admission program. If you can rank first in the city during the middle school entrance exams, you get an automatic pass to their elite program. That girl? She comes here to study every single day just to make that cut."

Eden’s heart gave a violent, painful jolt.

She watched the older student in the Prep Academy uniform for a long time. It wasn't until Miriam set the jasmine tea down and cleared her throat that Eden finally snapped back to reality.

She bowed her head, wrapping both hands around the warm glass, a sudden, fierce resolve igniting in her chest.

She was going to get into the City Academy. She was going to the city.