One girl, haunted by demons she never asked for. One girl, holding onto a dream with bleeding hands. One girl, clinging to a life she never was supposed to survive. One girl-and one infuriating woman she was never meant to meet. Aurora Winters, 18, soft-spoken and sweet like spring rain, begins her second last first day of senior year. The wreckage of a car crash last Christmas stole what little safety she had left-leaving her in the bitter care of an aunt who never wanted her and a man who only knows cruelty. Bruised, quiet, alone and unraveling, Aurora is trying to survive the storm. But survival becomes complicated when a certain woman enters the picture. Valentina M. Harlow, 37, new to this part of town, new to the school, old to the weight of the world. Once a sweet girl who ached to be seen, now a woman shaped by silence and cold resolve. Sharp-tongued, guarded, emotionally untouchable, manipulative and entirely disinterested in attachments. She is the oldest daughter who walked away-from blood and businesses, from love, from everything that broke her. It's been seven years since she last let herself feel. And she likes it that way. Until Aurora. What begins as uneasy glances and sharp conversations becomes something far harder to ignore. Valentina sees the pain in the girl's eyes. The bruises beneath the surface. And suddenly, the woman who feels nothing is faced with a choice: walk away as she always has, or reach out-risking everything. This is a tale of longing and danger, where hearts shatter, wounds heal, and reopen. Again and again. A story of two women who were never meant to orbit, yet crash into each other anyway. A story of it all. Of longing that feels like ruin. Of aching that feels like home. Of broken things that refuse to stay broken. A slow unraveling, a dangerous pull. A love that could save-or destroy-them both. Maybe they'll piece themselves back together. And set the world on fire, together.

"You're a headfuck, a complete headfuck." Red's back is turned as she breathes before heavy raindrops meet her face. "Where is this coming from?" Layla asks out of confusion as she attempts to pull Red by the wrist when Red pulls away quickly. "Don't- don't touch me." Red's voice comes out as a low raspy tone as she towers over Layla, brown meeting green. "Why?" Layla asks, gulping. "Because if you touch me, i'm scared i won't be able to hold back." Red hesitantly speaks as raindrops slide off her face and fall onto Layla's. "Then let me." _____ Reagan Levine and Layla Elsher are high school students in Northern England. The pair grew up with a large dislike for one another's existence purely out of spite. Reagan, also known as Red, grew up with only a father in an abusive home, having no mother or siblings makes her fend for herself in other ways.. ways you wouldn't call legal for a student. Red has despised Layla for the entirety of her being due to the sheer fact she has everything she wants, and maybe even more than that.. Layla Elsher has hated Red because she sees her as nothing but a bully. Not knowing why Red has turned out the way she is leads everyone to make their own perceptions of her intimidating manners when operating around others. Layla is popular and known to any man kind, the boys drool all over her and she loves it. It's the final year of high school for both of these girls, they're enemies since they could remember, but wait and see as Revulsion becomes Lustful throughout their last year of school..