Chapter 1: The Girl No One Notices
There are two kinds of people at Riverside High.
The ones everyone notices.
And the ones no one sees.
Maya Carter belonged to the second group.
She sat in the last row near the window, her notebook open but her mind far away. While the rest of the class laughed, whispered, and passed notes, Maya quietly sketched random patterns on the corner of her page.
Being invisible was safer.
Four years ago, Maya discovered something that changed everything.
The first time it happened, she thought she was dreaming.
She had bumped into a girl in the hallway and accidentally grabbed her hand.
Suddenly—
Images flashed in her mind.
Secrets.
Private memories.
Things the girl had never told anyone.
Maya released her hand immediately, her heart racing.
From that moment, she understood something terrifying.
Whenever she touched someone…
She could see their secrets.
Since then, she had learned one simple rule.
Never touch anyone.
But rules have a strange way of breaking themselves.
That afternoon, the final bell rang and students rushed out of the classroom like a wave.
Maya carefully walked through the crowded hallway, keeping her arms close to her body.
Then suddenly—
Someone crashed into her.
"Watch it!"
A hand grabbed hers for balance.
And the world around Maya disappeared.
Rain poured down in darkness.
Two boys stood arguing.
One of them was shouting angrily.
Then—
One of them walked away into the storm.
And never came back.
Maya gasped.
The vision ended.
When she looked up, her heart nearly stopped.
Standing in front of her was Ethan Blake.
The most popular boy at Riverside High.
And the boy whose secret she had just seen