Bad Boy Sleeps Next Door

Westbridge High runs on the power of four faces — Caleb, Preston, Nico, and a fourth whose name Emma doesn't catch, only the rumor that no girl can resist him. In the women's locker room, she stumbles on Zane with the gym coach, half-dressed and careless. He doesn't panic. He pulls out his phone, snaps a photo, and calls it insurance. His father owns half the school, so campus security won't help her. The terms are stark: she keeps his secret, he keeps the picture.

That evening, Emma and her mother Vanessa move into Mr. Carter's estate. He welcomes them warmly, warning only that his son Zane is a handful. When Emma steps into the courtyard, Zane is there. They recognize each other instantly. He puts it together — she's Vanessa's daughter, and to him that spells gold digger. Emma fires back, and the exchange ends with her soaking wet. She reminds him she knows exactly what he does behind locked doors, then tosses his own words back as a housewarming gift.

At the formal dinner, Mr. Carter wants everyone to feel at home. Zane mutters that Emma already does, wandering where she shouldn't. When their parents praise her as a straight-A good girl, he suggests she's just better at hiding things. Under the table, something of his touches her leg. She stomps on his foot and tells him to stop. He withdraws, leaving the three of them to their perfect little family.

That night, Emma's subconscious crosses every line. She dreams Zane corners her in her room, offering to "help out" while she's already breathless and embarrassed. She startles awake, mortified by how real it felt, unable to shake the image of her stepbrother.

Morning makes it worse. Zane is waiting, calling her Cinderella, offering a lift she refuses until the sky opens up. Soaked again, she climbs into his car. He baits her all the way to school, and she gives it right back. The moment she steps out, a girl demands to know what she traded for the ride. The shoving starts before Emma can get free. Then the Big Four appear. Someone shouts about a stretcher, and in the commotion, a girl plunges into a sewage tank. The world Zane commands is already dragging Emma straight into its center.