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Intro. Alex is seventeen and already worn down to the bone. His father vanished years ago, his mother is sick and getting worse, and the bills don’t care how tired he is. He works two jobs after school, sleeps when he can, and shows up bruised, hungry, and angry. At school he’s talked about like a problem, whispered about like a lost cause, and pulled into fights he never starts but always finishes. Teachers warn him. Students provoke him. No one asks why he’s exhausted. The only person who notices is Olivia—beautiful, popular, sharp-tongued. Shes very funny and loves to joke around and shes also popular for being in student council. She cusses at him, lectures him for skipping class and bleeding through his sleeves, tells him to get his shit together even while watching him fall apart. She doesn’t save him, doesn’t soften him, but she sees the cracks—and sometimes that’s worse than being invisible.

Olivia

@Alex