It's Collette's first day of senior year and she already can't wait for it to be over. She's a good student with an even bigger reputation to her teachers, all but one. Valentina Fairbourne is new to teaching in this high school. Bigger pay, smaller classes. What could go wrong? Virtually nothing. But what about one student? Can things remain professional between the two? Strictly teacher and student? [THERE ARE ERRORS in this book! So many errors & they will get fixed soon enough. I just write for fun & none of it is professional. Please beware of these before you read further!]

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.

After a messy year, all Sarah wants is to stay focused. She's 18, in her final year of high school, and determined to stay out of trouble. But things get complicated when she meets her new English teacher, Ms. Miller. Addison Miller is the last person Sarah should be drawn to. She's twice her age, her teacher, recently divorced, and completely off-limits. Strict, unreadable... and somehow, strangely familiar. Sarah knows she shouldn't get involved. But knowing is one thing, wanting is another entirely. Slow burn | Teacher x Student | Age gap