Holy Water, Heavy Heart

Julia Rivera has always been the good girl.

Sixteen years old, quiet and obedient, with neat handwriting and a heart full of questions she never dares speak aloud. In her small town and even smaller church, she has learned that love has rules, that faith is not for questioning, and that some parts of you are meant to be silenced. But when a new girl named Eva transfers into her school-confident, free-spirited, with warm brown eyes and a laugh that tugs at something inside Julia-everything starts to shift.

At first, Julia doesn't have the language for what she's feeling. She only knows that Eva makes her feel seen in a way no one else ever has. Her presence feels like sunlight through stained glass-warm, colorful, and strangely holy. They sit together at lunch, swap books, talk about art and dreams and everything in between. Julia finds herself writing poetry in the margins of her notebooks. She starts praying not just to be good, but to be brave.