HOW TO MAKE DIAMONDS

PROLOGUE

She walked in like the typical angsty kid from any teen movie. Earphones were blasting so loud that the heavy drums and occasional screams were audible from a distance. The playlist was dominated by Blink-182, Bring Me The Horizon, and similar bands. That is, until Maya showed up and yanked the earphones out, snapping her back to reality.

Jade clenched her jaw, ready to lash out at whoever dared to interrupt her. But she stopped when she saw it was her aunt.

"Your schedule, locker information, and all that," Maya handed her the paper. "I managed to squeeze you into your favorite subjects and already spoke to my colleagues about not bothering you. They loved your grades, so as long as you keep them up, it won't be a problem. Now, I still don't like that you're so hellbent on not making friends—this is your senior year, after all—but I'll respect it."

"Thanks, Auntie," Jade mumbled.

Maya nodded, offering a smile as she squeezed Jade's upper arm in a goodbye gesture. She quickly got distracted by one of her students passing by, launching into a conversation about boosting his grades in her Introduction to Art History class. Jade couldn't help but smirk—it was always a surprise to her how students could fail at a subject whose works mainly involved drawing and collages.

She put her earphones back in, glanced at the papers her aunt had given her, and headed to her locker, following the school map. Being the new kid in the middle of the school year always attracted more attention than she wanted. But she hadn't had much of a choice. Her sister had moved to this city too, and the idea of staying back in New York alone just didn't sit right. So now, it was just them in a whole new place, plus her sister's fiancé that was now an inevitable part of her life.

Yes, being 18 and having an impressive amount of money in her bank account gave Jade the option to stay in New York with her friends. She could have kept her independence and maintained the life she knew. But her history, combined with her tendency to self-sabotage, made the decision easier. So she said her goodbyes, promised to visit, packed her things, and left the city behind.

At least she still had her privacy. Living in a house with her sister and her soon-to-be husband, Ricky, wasn't something she was excited about. The idea of dealing with a lovey-dovey couple and the inevitable chaos of a newborn wasn't part of her plan. Thankfully, Ricky had offered her the loft above his tattoo studio—a quiet, self-contained space, away from the noise of their life together.

Jade wasted no time shoving her helmet into her locker, along with the rest of her belongings. She pulled out her tote bag—the one Bea had gifted her—along with her essentials: a pencil case, her sketchbook, a notebook for classes, her wallet, and a water bottle. With that, she headed to her second class of the day, having already missed the first.

An AP class.

Jade wasn't a nerd or an overachiever; she had just stopped wasting energy on people at her last high school. Now, her focus was purely on her classes, and she had no intention of changing that. And honestly, she was fine with it.

At lunch, she didn't have a specific table waiting for her. Every attempt at making friends had been swiftly shut down, and now, with her tray in hand, she walked toward the only empty spot she could find. The only other person at the table was a boy, sitting by himself, whom she made sure to sit as far away from as possible.

He seemed surprised, probably used to people avoiding him altogether. Jade silently cursed her tangled earphones as the boy tried to push her away.

"Seats taken."

"Yeah sure, I'll move when your army of friends shows up to take them." Sarcasm was always her go-to.

Popular girls? Annoying. School bad boys? Even worse. He had the looks, the attitude, and probably a string of disgusting stories to go along with it. But Jade had dealt with worse. She had already been labeled the school slut once, before being recast as the poor girl everyone should pity. She had learned how to survive the social battlefield, and no smug comments were going to faze her.

Moody, annoyed, witty, and rude—it was basically her default setting.

But this was new territory. She didn't know Kyle, and Kyle didn't know her.

He looked stunned, curious even, like he hadn't encountered someone who would push back since that infamous incident during his freshman year. He was used to people keeping their distance, and Jade's refusal to care had clearly caught him off guard.