Hearts Collide

Nightshade Rose Summers is seventeen, and she's never been in a romantic relationship. She's always told herself that school comes first-no distractions, no messy feelings.

Graduation is only two months away, and she's determined to walk across that stage with her future wide open.

Her best friend, Marina "Mari" Miller, feels the same way. No dating, no drama. Just years of friendship, late-night talks, endless laughter, and a kind of understanding only the two of them share.

Growing up together in the small Texas town of Roseheart, everyone has assumed they're just best friends-and that's exactly what they've always said, too.

Lately, though, something is shifting. Mari notices the little things-how Nightshade blushes when their hands brush, how she laughs a little too hard at Mari's jokes, how she always checks in when Mari insists she's "fine."

The quiet moments between them start to feel heavier, charged with words neither knows how to say.

One late evening, when they're sitting together under the familiar Texas stars, a confession slips out-honest, terrifying, and impossibly freeing.

What began as a friendship slowly unfolds into something warmer, deeper, and far more beautiful than either of them expected.

In the quiet corners of Roseheart, two girls discover that the person who has always understood them best... might also be the one they're meant to love.