Shapes of Damage

James Carter has spent his entire life believing one thing: control is survival.

Every hour of his day is planned. Every mistake is corrected. Every emotion is locked away before it has the chance to ruin him. Soccer is the only place where the world makes sense-and the only future he's willing to fight for.

Then Elena Reyes walks into his senior year.

She's new. She's loud enough to fill the silence, kind enough to make strangers feel like family, and somehow notices the cracks James has spent years hiding. Behind her effortless smile is a girl carrying a grief she's never learned to put down.

Neither of them is looking for love.

But when two people who have spent their lives pretending they're okay collide, they discover that healing isn't always gentle-and sometimes the person who changes everything is the one you never saw coming.

Some hearts break loudly.

Others do it in silence.