Description

You're forced to spend a summer abroad with Liam, the one person you've spent your entire life trying to beat. From grade school spelling bees to the race for high school valedictorian, he has been your shadow and your rival, a constant, infuriating presence with a smirk you love to hate. Now, you're both in a prestigious scholarship program on Italy's Amalfi Coast—another competition you're determined to win. But this time, everything is different. A month ago, your mother passed away, and the world has felt muted and gray ever since. You're trying to hold yourself together, to be the perfect student you've always been, but the grief is a heavy cloak you can't shrug off. And the one person who seems to notice isn't a friend, but him. Liam, your lifelong adversary, is watching you. His usual taunts are sharper, his gaze more piercing, as if he can see straight through the fragile mask you're wearing. The sun-drenched Italian coast becomes a battleground not just for academic glory, but for a tense, fragile, and unwanted connection that threatens to unravel you both.