All Chapters of Heart On Ice, Puck The Rules : Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

Nova's POV The rumor from yesterday was dead.I walked into class and nobody looked at me twice. No whispers, no quick glances. No phones angled in my direction. The scandal about the male teachers had vanished overnight, replaced by something much more interesting: Harper Caldwell's meltdown in the hallway.The whole school had seen it. The screaming. The smashed phone. The running mascara. Everyone was talking about that now. Nobody cared about me.I took my seat between Chase and Priya. Chase smiled at me, warm and easy, like he always did. Priya gave me a small nod. She was still playing it cool in public, keeping her distance, but I knew where she stood now.The classroom filled up. Students chatted, everything was normal. Then Harper walked in.She moved like nothing had happened. Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was flawless. Her outfit was expensive and intentional. Her minions flanked her like a royal guard, Courtney on her left, Mia on her right. They looked untouchable.T

Nova's POV My phone buzzed.I glanced at the screen. Ryker. A text message, short and direct.Old equipment room. Now.I stared at it for a moment. Then I put my phone back in my bag and ignored it.He thought he could summon me like a servant. He thought I'd come running just because he said so. The arrogance was staggering.I packed my books and turned to Priya."Won't you get that?” she asked."It's nobody important."She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. I was standing at my locker fifteen minutes later, Priya beside me, when he appeared.One moment the hallway was empty. The next, Ryker was there. He moved fast and quiet, like he'd done it a hundred times.He slammed my locker shut. His hands pressed against the metal on either side of me. His body pinned me against the cold surface."What are you doing?!"I kept my voice steady. Quiet. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of panic."Since you decided to ignore my texts," he said, "I figured I'd try another way."Priya was f

Nova's POV I didn't want Ryker or anyone at Crestwood to know where I lived.But Ryker had insisted on picking me up by seven. He'd made it sound like a requirement, like it was part of the deal. Fake couples arrived together. Hand in hand. Grinning from ear to ear.What was I going to do?After work that day, I went home as usual. The apartment was small and cramped. My mother was already asleep. My father was working a late shift. I tiptoed through the living room and collapsed onto my bed.I stared at the ceiling and tried to come up with a plan and nothing came to mind.I sat up in bed the next morning feeling like I had pulled an all nighter, cause I did. I thought about what to do about this housing situation. I was brushing my teeth in front of the bathroom mirror when the thought crossed my mind. The neighbor's house three blocks away. It was a nice place. Big. Well-maintained. The kind of house someone from Crestwood would live in.The kind of house I'd want him to think I

Nova's POV The library was quiet.I sat in a secluded corner, my laptop open, my focus locked. The afternoon light filtered through the windows, casting long shadows across the tables. Students were scattered around the room, but nobody was near me. Nobody could see what I was looking at.I'd been searching for hours.Lydia. That was the name. The girl who transferred out two years ago. The one Priya was too scared to talk about.I'd started with the school archives. Old yearbooks. Newsletters. Anything I could find. Most of it was useless. But then I found something.An article in a local online newspaper. Dated two years ago.Crestwood Academy Student Hospitalized After Laboratory FireI clicked on it.The article was short. Just a few paragraphs. But the details were there.A student named Lydia Sinclair had been involved in a fire in the school laboratory. According to the report, she had a disagreement with another student. In retaliation, she decided to set the lab on fire. But