They don’t.

Amerie Wadia stands at her locker, staring at the mess inside like it personally betrayed her.

and immediately hears raised voices nearby. She freezes.

Down the hall, Harper McLean leans against the wall, arms crossed, watching everything like she’s already bored of the day. She clocks Amerie instantly. Their eyes almost meet. Almost. Harper looks away first.

Then the ripple moves through the hallway. Not loud. Not obvious. But noticeable. A shift in attention. A pause in conversation. People glance, then glance again.

Someone new.

At the front office doors, a girl steps inside like she’s been there before. Lena Kovač doesn’t hesitate. She takes in everything in one sweep—the noise, the tension, the way people group themselves, who’s watching who. Her expression doesn’t change, but her eyes move quickly, cataloguing.

She doesn’t look nervous. She looks… prepared.

Amerie notices her without meaning to. There’s nothing flashy about Lena. No dramatic entrance. No desperate attempt to fit in. But somehow, she stands out anyway. Their eyes meet for half a second. And in that half-second, Amerie gets the weirdest feeling—

Like she’s the one being figured out.

Behind her, the hallway noise picks back up—but something’s off now. Subtle, but there. Like the balance just shifted.

And no one knows it yet…

…but things at Hartley High are about to get messy again.