(Kian's POV)
Everyone at Westview knew my name before I ever walked through its doors.
Adams meant power. It meant pressure. It meant wealth, tailored suits, and parties where no one made eye contact for more than three seconds. It also meant never really being your own person. Not when you were born into someone else's legacy.
My mother, Amanda Adams, made sure of that.
"Stand straight, speak clearly, don't embarrass us." That was her version of love.
My father, Alexander, wasn't much better. He was quieter, colder—the kind of man who wore success like a second skin and silence like a weapon.
So when they moved me to Westview, it wasn't for a fresh start. It was a business decision.New alliances. New opportunities.A new reputation to protect.
What they didn't know—or pretended not to—is that I'd already ruined my last one. Not with drugs, or arrests, or anything headline-worthy. Just... silence. Distance. Disinterest. I stopped playing the game they wanted me in.
So they changed the board.
----------------------------------------------------
The only thing that made this place different was Vale Black.
She wasn't loud, or flashy, or fake like the others.She was... still.But it was the kind of still that hides storms.
When I first saw her sketch, something clicked.
She was hiding something—maybe lots of things. But she wasn't trying to vanish. She was waiting for someone to notice.
That someone should probably not be me.But here I was, thinking about her during dinner while Amanda listed off all the people I "shouldn't waste time with." The Blacks, of course, were near the top of that list.
"Unstable," she said coolly. "That family thrives on mess."
I said nothing. I never did at this table.
----------------------------------------------------
The next day at school, Vale and I sat down to continue the art project. We didn't talk much at first—just worked.
But then I asked, "Do you always hide behind silver?"
Her hand paused mid-sketch. "Do you always ask questions like that?"
I shrugged. "Only when I think the answer might be interesting."
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Maybe I wear silver because gold feels like a lie."
That answer stuck with me all day.
Because I knew exactly what she meant.