Mia Evian has to piece together the mystery of Zack Maddox, the bad boy whose life she saved, while simultaneously keeping her own crumbling life together before Zack ends up in trouble again - or worse yet, dead. ***** This is a love story. When Zack Maddox, a notorious bad boy, meets Mia Evian, a nobody with a disdain for arrogant pretty boys, the two teenagers' lives are thrown into chaos. Zack is a mystery Mia can't unravel, and as her family is torn apart by her father's infidelity, her newfound thrill-seeking attitude is the only thing keeping her head above water. As Mia's behaviour turns increasingly reckless, Zack becomes the lifeboat keeping her afloat. Mia thought she had a good grasp of the world, but she's beginning to realise the people around her are far more complex than she could have ever imagined. Worse still, she may not be the only one who needs a lifeboat. This is a love story - just not the kind you might expect. ***** Content warning: This story contains mild drug and alcohol use and themes of mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Cover designed by Lucas Fisher

"I love you," he muffled in her ears. "I love you until it's impossible to think of anyone else". She felt her world in another realm, he had enveloped her with his love. But she can't love him the way he did. Her past kept reoccurring vividly to her mind. How she wish, those days never came. *** She denied love at a young age, the thorns on the rose had to convince her to run. But when she meets a strange man, whose views are strangely different yet similar to hers. The question arises: Were the thorns the cause of pain? Or was it a barrier to protect a fragile flower?

Tessa Young is an 18 year old college student with a simple life, excellent grades, and a sweet boyfriend. She always has things planned out ahead of time, until she meets a rude boy named Hardin, with too many tattoos and piercings who shatters her plans.