When Sloan Bridges is seventeen years and three hundred, sixty-four days old, her dream of having a perfect birthday is shattered. Home alone after spending the afternoon working on a sci-ence project at the new boy’s house, Sloan is brutally attacked in her kitchen by a man she can’t recognize. The only clue she has to go on is what he whispers in her ear, “You deserve this.” The police have one suspect—Aaron Hunter, older brother of ‘the new boy’, who picked Sloan up a few nights before as she ran from a party. Adamant that he didn’t do it, Aaron begs Sloan to believe him. For her part, Sloan doesn’t know who to trust. She never saw her attacker’s face, and when she does picture it, it’s Aaron’s face she sees standing over her.