|| Featured FREE story with exclusive paid chapters - previously a paid story || When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time. ***** Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston

Lyra Kennedy joins the cast of Dating Democracy, a reality show where she's paired with the handsome Andrew - but she has eyes for bad boy Patrick. ***** Lyra Kennedy lost her job, her dog passed away, and her boyfriend of 2 years just dumped her. In a moment of weakness, her mom talks her into applying for "Dating Democracy", a reality dating show where contestants are paired up by audience voting. All too soon, Lyra's on a flight to LA, during which she meets a handsome stranger and mourns that she's stuck on the show instead of chasing after him. When the show starts however, she finds out the brooding stranger, Patrick, is another contestant. Instead of being paired with him, Lyra is assigned the handsome, kind, Andrew Hastings. As the show goes on, and things heat up, Lyra finds herself torn between two handsome, strong, passionately different men. Will she choose the charming small town hunk, Andrew, or the irresistible bad boy Patrick? And when her indecision leads her to pursue both of them, how much of her temptation will the world see on TV? [[Watty 2018 Winner]] [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]

After a year and a half of trying to move on from the what-ifs, the tides have pulled Alexandra Rivera and Zachariah Kim back together again. ***** In the heart of Hawai'i, Alex finds an instant connection when she meets her best friend Emmie's new boyfriend at a party. And even as the relationship becomes strained, their friendship continues to grow until Alex finds herself stuck between the two people she loves the most. Though she learns how hard it is to balance these two relationships, especially after Emmie and Zach's relationship ends, they dive deeper and deeper into the depths of their secrets until their lies pull them under. After everything falls apart and Zachariah moves away for a year and a half, he returns and Alexandra's life is shaken up because he's not the only one back in town. With Zachariah and Emmie both returning to O'ahu, Alex is forced to reconcile what she wants out of life, and who she wants to be. » 2021/2022 wattys shortlist » editor's pick « » featured on @ContemporaryLit, @NewAdult, @StoriesUndiscovered, @Romance, @WattpadAsianFiction, @WattpadEmpowered «