Switching Sides

On the surface, Eastbridge Prep is a prestigious Ivy League prep school, boasting a luxurious theater, a football field, a student government building, a board of trustees meeting room, a smart campus app, and EchoWall, an anonymous social platform for the entire school. In reality, however, the school is deeply controlled by money, connections with the board of trustees, scholarship resources, student government power, and social media sentiment. Aiden Cross is the school’s most talented defensive football player, coming from a low-income family. With his mother chronically absent and his father plagued by problems, he works part-time while caring for his younger sister, Lily. His greatest hope is to leave this place on an athletic scholarship. However, because he shoved a bully to the ground while protecting Lily a few years ago, the school has labeled him a “student at risk of violence.” Maya Whitmore is the “perfect girl” in the eyes of the entire school: academically outstanding, with a spotless reputation, from a wealthy family, with a boyfriend, Carter Blake, who is the student council president, and a mother, Grace Whitmore, who is a key figure on the school board. Everyone envies her. But no one knows that her life is meticulously scheduled by her mother down to the minute—her college application essays, social circle, romantic relationships, and even her emotional expressions must all serve the image of the “perfect heiress.”