"Your confidence is inspiring. Misplaced, delusional, and borderline offensive, but inspiring."

Lylah Laforteza knew the tropes. She knew she was supposed to be the brooding girl in the oversized hoodie who read Sylvia Plath under the bleachers. But Lylah’s silence wasn't a choice—it was a strategy. She had never had an interest in the things most girls her age did, mostly because the social hierarchy of Westview High felt like a sandbox compared to what she was building in her basement. She wasn't trying to be different; she was trying to be prepared. Because when the world finally caught up to the data Lylah had been tracking, "fitting in" would be the last thing on anyone's mind.