The way it was before

She thought she was used to it.
The silence.
The fear.
The way everything always fell apart at home.

Shannon never had a normal life.
Not with a father who drinks too much...
Not with a mother who's always too tired to notice...
And not with a past that still follows her everywhere she goes.

Starting over at a new school was supposed to be her chance.
A fresh start.
A place where no one knows her.

But some things don't stay in the past.

And some people...
show up when you least expect them.

Rhys wasn't meant to be part of her story.
Just a stranger.
Just a moment.

But sometimes, one moment is enough to change everything.

Because when broken worlds collide,
feelings get messy,
secrets come out,
and the truth hurts more than silence ever did.

And Shannon is about to learn...

that the hardest part isn't surviving the past..
it's letting go of the way it was before.