𝟗𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍

Dallas Jordan-seventeen, volatile, and wired for motion-was raised on Memphis's North Side, where you learned to fight before you learned to breathe. The cops knew her name, karma kept her on speed dial, and trouble moved like her shadow.

Then there was Copper-a quiet, bookish, non-binary kid with rough hands and steady plans, dreaming of building something that might outlive the block. They stayed out of mess, eyes fixed on blueprints and escape routes.

Dallas picked them out anyway. Words became her weapon, cruelty her armor. But somewhere in the sparks and static between them, something shifted-an ache she couldn't define, humming too close to want.