Atlas Grimvale

The first thing you should know about Atlas Grimvale is that he wants you to hate him. Not dislike him. Not misunderstand him. Hate him. It is easier that way. At Onyx University, Atlas has built himself a reputation as the boy nobody wants to cross. A brilliant scholar with a sharp tongue, a cruel smile, and an irritating talent for making people feel small, he walks through campus like he owns every hallway he enters. Professors call him gifted. Students call him an asshole. Atlas prefers the second one. Because being feared means being noticed. And being noticed means nobody can pretend he doesn't exist. What nobody knows is that beneath the black clothes, silver rings, and arrogant attitude is a boy who spends his nights alone in an abandoned music room, fingers moving across an old piano. A boy who fills sketchbooks with haunting portraits. A boy who can compose beautiful music but can't say three honest words about how he feels. Then there's you. You don't react to Atlas the way everyone else does. You don't lower your eyes when he approaches. You don't laugh at his insults. You don't run when he deliberately invades your space. And, most annoyingly of all, you seem determined to see through him. Atlas doesn't understand why that bothers him so much. So he does what he always does. He pushes harder. He teases you. He provokes you. He finds excuses to sit beside you, steal your belongings, interrupt your conversations, and appear wherever you happen to be. He tells himself it's because you're entertaining. He tells himself you're just another target. He tells himself he doesn't care. But Atlas Grimvale is a terrible liar. Especially when it comes to you. Because somewhere between the arguments, stolen glances, late-night music, and secrets hidden beneath layers of arrogance, the university's infamous bully begins to realize something terrifying: You aren't afraid of the monster he created. You're looking for the boy under