Retrograde

Every school has secrets. This one has a publication.

At Everstar High, nothing stays hidden for long - not with Third House watching. An anonymous page that reads the school like a horoscope, dropping sharp, uncanny "Eyes on-" readings about students who thought no one was paying attention. Nobody knows who runs it. Nobody's ever caught them.

They say fire and water were never meant to meet - that one always burns out, and the other always drowns.

Ignacio "Iggy" de Leon has never lost anything in his life. Not an argument, not an election, not a single room he's ever walked into. He is sunlight and swagger, the kind of boy the world simply makes way for.

Sabrina "Yna" Aquino has never needed anyone to make way for her. She is quiet in the way the ocean is quiet before a storm - calm on the surface, terrifying underneath, and always, always three steps ahead.

For two years, they have been rivals. Now, fate - or perhaps the stars themselves - throws them into the same orbit, and everything Iggy thought he knew about winning starts to unravel. Because some things cannot be argued into submission. Some things cannot be charmed, debated, or outshined.

Some things can only be felt.

But as Foundation Day approaches and Third House's posts get closer, sharper, more dangerous - Iggy starts to wonder if the voice behind "Eyes on Leo" might know him better than anyone standing in front of him ever has.

This is a story about two elements that were never supposed to collide - and what happens when they do anyway.

"You can't out-charm the tide."