Morning sunlight spilled through the tall windows of Westview High, flooding the hallways with warm California light.
To anyone passing by, the school looked exactly the same as it always did.
Lockers slammed. Students laughed. Someone blasted music from a phone speaker. Cheerleaders walked in groups wearing matching jackets, drawing admiring looks as they passed.
Everything felt normal.
But for Chloe Bennett, nothing was normal anymore.
She stood in front of her locker, staring at the rows of metal doors while pretending to search for a textbook she’d already taken out.
Her reflection in the polished locker surface looked calm.
Composed.
Perfect.
Inside, her mind was running at a thousand miles per hour.
Last night kept replaying in her head like a loop she couldn’t turn off.
Tristan kissing Luna.
The necklace around Luna’s throat.
The photograph.
The ring engraved with Z.C.
Zoe Collins.
Chloe had barely slept. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the rooftop from the picture Luna held.
And Jasper’s voice echoing in the dark.
Zoe Collins didn’t fall off that roof by accident.
A locker slammed beside her.
Chloe flinched slightly before forcing herself to relax.
You can’t fall apart.
Not yet.
Not until you know the truth.
“Hey.”
The familiar voice made her stomach twist.
Tristan Hale leaned against the locker beside hers, tall and effortlessly handsome in his varsity jacket. His sandy hair was slightly messy like he’d just run his hands through it.
To everyone else in the hallway, he looked exactly like the same golden boy they all adored.
To Chloe, he looked like a stranger.
“You disappeared last night,” he said casually.
Chloe blinked up at him as if she’d just noticed him.
“Oh. Hey.”
She forced a small smile.
“Yeah, I wasn’t feeling great so I left early.”
Tristan studied her face carefully.
Too carefully.
“You didn’t text me.”
“Didn’t want to bother you,” she said lightly. “You looked busy talking with Luna.”
A flicker of tension passed through his eyes.
“Right,” he said slowly. “That.”
Chloe tilted her head slightly.
“What about it?”
The question hung in the air.
Tristan seemed to hesitate, like he was searching her face for something—anger, suspicion, anything that might give her away.
Chloe gave him nothing.
Just mild curiosity.
Finally he exhaled.
“She was just asking about cheer practice,” he said.
Chloe nodded thoughtfully.
“Oh.”
Then she opened her locker and deliberately fumbled with her books, dropping one to the floor.
“Oops.”
Tristan bent automatically to pick it up.
“You okay?” he asked, handing it back.
“Yeah.” Chloe rubbed her temple. “Just tired. I’ve been having weird dreams lately.”
“What kind of dreams?”
She looked up at him.
Directly into his eyes.
“About Zoe Collins.”
The reaction was immediate.
His entire body went rigid.
“Why would you dream about her?” he asked quickly.
Chloe shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
She kept her tone light, almost absentminded.
“It’s strange, though. I barely knew her, but in the dream she keeps trying to tell me something.”
Tristan’s jaw tightened.
“What does she say?”
Chloe pretended to think.
“I can’t remember clearly. Something about… the roof.”
For a split second, pure panic flashed across his face.
Then the bell rang.
Students flooded the hallway.
The moment broke.
Tristan stepped back.
“You should get to class,” he said stiffly.
Chloe nodded.
“See you later?”
“Yeah.”
She watched him walk away.
His shoulders were tense.
Good.
Let him be nervous.
Let him wonder how much she knew.
Because the truth was—
She didn’t know enough yet.
But she would.
Cheer practice that afternoon felt like stepping into a shark tank.
The cheer gym smelled like rubber mats and hairspray, and the squad had already gathered by the time Chloe arrived.
The moment she walked in, conversations dipped.
Whispers spread through the room like ripples.
Chloe’s stomach twisted.
Something was wrong.
“Look who finally decided to show up,” Luna’s voice chimed sweetly.
Chloe looked up.
Luna stood near the center of the room in her cheer uniform, arms crossed loosely. Her expression looked concerned—but her eyes were sharp.
Predatory.
“Sorry,” Chloe said softly. “I overslept.”
One of the girls—Ashley—exchanged a look with another teammate.
“Are you okay, Chloe?” she asked cautiously.
“Of course.”
Ashley hesitated.
“It’s just… people have been saying you’ve been acting kind of weird lately.”
Chloe blinked.
“Weird?”
Luna stepped forward, placing a sympathetic hand on Chloe’s arm.
“She’s just worried about you,” Luna said gently.
“That’s all.”
Something about the touch made Chloe want to rip her arm away.
But she forced herself to stay still.
“What exactly have people been saying?” Chloe asked calmly.
Luna sighed softly.
“That you’ve seemed distracted. Forgetful.”
She paused.
“And… that you’ve been carrying around things related to Zoe Collins.”
The room went silent.
Chloe’s pulse spiked.
“That’s ridiculous,” she said slowly.
“Is it?”
Luna reached into her gym bag.
Then she pulled out a photograph.
And let it fall to the floor.
The picture slid across the mat until it stopped at Chloe’s feet.
Chloe’s breath caught.
It was Tristan and Zoe.
Standing close together at a school event.
Smiling like they were more than friends.
A murmur spread through the room.
“Oh my god…”
“Is that Zoe?”
“Why would Chloe have that?”