Sneak Peek – Tangled Truths: Part 2
Chapter One: Smoke Doesn’t Lie
The fire was out, but the smoke never left.
It clung to my clothes, to my skin, to my memory — every time I closed my eyes, I saw it: Kayla’s face, the guy with the scar, and Ryan’s fists clenched like he was seconds from falling apart.
“You need to stay home today,” my mom said the next morning, but I didn’t listen.
I had to see him.
Ryan was waiting in the back lot behind school, hoodie up, jaw tight. The way he looked at me — like I was the only real thing left — sent heat straight through my chest.
“They started this,” he said quietly, “but I’m ending it.”
“Who are they, Ryan?” I whispered. “And what did you do before you met me?”
He didn’t answer.
Instead, he pulled me into him like the world was about to collapse.
And maybe it was.
Because when I opened my locker later that day, a photo fell out.
It was me. Sleeping. In my room.
With one word written across the back in red ink:
RUN.
