Hackathon Sweethearts

One overnight hackathon. One last-minute teammate switch. As Willa and Emmett race to save their school club with a build that could change everything, pressure turns into trust and one sleepless night becomes something neither expected.

Willa has exactly one night to prove her school’s coding club deserves to survive.

She does not have time for missing teammates, power glitches, rival schools, or the one boy she never wanted at her table.

When an injury forces a last-minute team change, Willa is stuck with Emmett, a sharp, quiet coder who walked away from the club months ago and left behind more questions than answers. The hackathon clock is already running. Their prototype is unfinished. Their school’s future support may depend on what happens before sunrise.

What begins as damage control turns into something far more dangerous.

As laptop screens glow through the night and pressure strips every conversation down to what is real, Willa and Emmett start building more than an app. They build trust where there used to be rumor, steadiness where there used to be distance, and a connection neither of them can explain away once morning arrives.

Set against late-night hallways, school politics, student ambition, and the fragile hope of being taken seriously, Hackathon Sweethearts is a clean YA romance about one unforgettable night, one smart risky build, and the kind of love that survives when the lights come fully on.