#thsofficial

                                 — [ the h e m l o c k society, 2021 ]

KENNEDY WATTS has always known exactly what she wants. She’s a go-getter, a straight-A student, a natural leader. She’s got a spot in half the clubs at school. She makes to-do lists in her sleep. And nothing is more important to her than coming out on top—if she’s not the best in the room, she’s doing something wrong. Kennedy has her life mapped out to the very last detail, but when her plans are pulled out from under her feet, there’s only one thing she wants: to get back at the person who took it all away. It’s not going to be easy, though. If she wants to succeed, she’s going to have to break a few rules, make a few unlikely friendships, and put her faith in something new—and she’ll find out just how far she’s willing to go in order to win.

HARVEY HUDSON is perfectly happy with his place. He’s got great friends, a great team, and a straight path to a soccer scholarship at any school he wants. So when his former best friend approaches him with an over-ambitious, slightly crazy, likely dangerous proposal, he should definitely say no, right? But somehow, he can’t turn it down. Instead, he jumps at the chance to go back to the way things were, and suddenly finds himself caught up in something a lot bigger than any of them. And old memories—and feelings—are starting to resurface. But Harvey has never been one to quit, and he’s determined to prove that he’s more than some airhead jock. After all, he can still pick any lock in under twelve seconds, and that’s got to count for something.

TROY WASHINGTON has never had to prove her genius to anyone. She knows exactly what she’s capable of, and everyone around her knows it too. Using her expertise to pull off a job like this should be thrilling, but she wants nothing more than to get it over with; she signed up for payback, not for working with a team she barely trusts. Troy likes to know every environment inside and out, but now she’s surrounded by a bunch of variables she doesn’t know how to control. It doesn’t help that there’s a peppy jock trying to get them all to be friends—or that this particular girl makes her want to try something new. This is exactly why she likes computers better than people. At least they’re predictable.

MAYA ALVARADO-CLARK is an optimist, a mediator, and always a team player. In truth, she knows she shouldn’t be involving herself in something like this—something that is bound to end in disaster—but when people need her, she’s not afraid to stick her neck out for them. And yes, maybe she’s a little tired of doing exactly what everyone expects of her. Maybe she wants a bit of trouble. After all, it’s just another competition that needs her skills, another team that needs her to bring them together. She can do that. She always does. (And if she manages to get through to the pretty genius with a chip on her shoulder in the process, then she’ll call that a healthy bonus.)

KYLER JAMES HERRERA never stays in one place for too long. His roots don’t go deep enough to stick, and that’s fine with him—all it means is that he’s always prepared for the worst. Getting tossed around enough times gives you thick skin. He’s not exactly a team player, or the kind of person to join in on a petty revenge plot like this, but there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that’s exactly what he needs to stick it out after he graduates. Besides, he has to put his less conventional skills to use somewhere, right? As long as his coworkers don’t try to rope him into some kind of friendship circle, he’ll be just fine.