the moral of the story

"in which a girl broken with empty promises and bad decisions learns to let herself love again."

or

a year and a half ago, florence walsh's life was relatively normal. she'd just finished her freshmen year of high school and was ready for a summer of excitement in london. needless to say, things didn't go exactly a smoothly as she'd hoped.

now she's in the middle of her junior year, and feels like an entirely different person. the whole world—even her own family—openly shows their judgment of her. promising herself to never let anyone in the way she did before, florence shuts down and prays for the best. and for while, it works. she distances herself from her family and from her peers. and though people talk, they leave her alone.

until one day, when florence almost finds herself in the exact same situation that got her so screwed up in the first place; totally falling for a guy who's completely unavailable.

hi so i know i don't post on wattpad ever anymore, but i wrote this story all in quarantine and i really wanted to share it with people, even if it doesn't get a ton of reads

i basically just published this here so my friends can read it, but anyone is free to read it. i just really love this story and the characters and relationships, and i'm proud of myself for finally finishing a story, i haven't done that in so long

but a few disclaimers

1. while this story is fully written, it's not fully published. i just basically have to proof read everything i wrote and flush out any mistakes, and maybe add a few scenes, which takes longer than you think it would. i'm in college now, so i'll try and do that when i can, but school does come first. i'm also in the process of writing the sequel to this, and it took me like a year and a half or so to finish writing this, so yeah .

2. as much as i love this story, i do realize that it's very unrealistic. it's not dystopian or fantasy or anything, but this story is definitely not something your average 16 year old girl would go through. trust me, i've been a 16 year old girl before, this was not my reality (even though i kinda wish it was). there's also a ton of convenience in this story, and all i ask is that you go along with it

3. i first started writing this story in quarantine, but my writing wasn't at its best then. i had basically quit writing by that point, and when you quit something, you become awful at it. and this story is my journey of falling in love with writing again. basically, the first few chapters of this story aren't written the best, but i promise my writing improves as you read

4. this story and the character of florence has been my baby for about four years now, and i will literally cry if someone claims this as their own. i've spent so much time thinking and planning for this story, so please don't be a little bitch and respect that i literally own everything about this story. it's mine. it belongs to me. okay thanks :)

i just wanted to thank anyone who reads this and enjoys it, i know it's not for everyone, but this story has been living within me since i was 14 years old, and seeing it play out like this literally warms my heart. florence has been one of my favorite characters i've ever created before she was even named, i hope you all enjoy reading her story as much as i had fun writing

please enjoy the moral of the story :)