TWO LONELY HEARTS CAUGHT IN THE RAIN-- Verona Wang doesn't believe in wishing on stars. She also doesn't believe in third chances. So why is she so inclined to give Roman Cavaliere all the stars and chances she can? [#1SS]

"why are you back again?" "donut worry about that." "..." "..." "did you just-" "yup." #9 in short story [081217]

Chicago, IL. January 1992. When Jenny Adler shows up to her first day at a new job, she hopes it can be as simple as it is on paper - a few short months of doing paperwork and answering phone calls before she moves on to the next thing. It was never supposed to be anything more than a mere stepping stone, never meant to be significant. But no matter how fast she runs, the past clings to her like a shadow and having to constantly see the woman she wants to forget forces her to confront the uncomfortable truths she's been trying so hard to ignore. Meanwhile, a new friendly face slowly coaxes her into opening up and for the very first time, she starts to believe that humans aren't as inherently broken as she thought them to be. What she intended to be just a tiny blot of ink on the pages of her life ushers in the beginning of a brand new chapter and makes her challenge her beliefs about what it means to be a woman in a man's world, if love truly can be found in the most unexpected and darkest places, and what to do when you realize that you've turned into the very thing you swore you'd never become. Their future was a tragedy waiting to be written, a tale of endings that came too soon after beginnings. But there was a life before the dark, a life so full and hopeful it later felt like but a dream. »»----------«« ♡ featured in @NA's general + historical fic reading list ♡ »»----------«« ♡ Started: May 17th, 2021 ♡ Completed: October 31st, 2021

Remiya Siu is just trying to get through her senior year in one piece. Between writing articles for the school's newspaper, her part-time job at a local diner, and the piles of assignments she has to plow through for her AP classes, she barely has time to breathe. The pressure will be worth it, though. Because ultimately, it's going to help her get into Harvard--the college of her dreams. Except it doesn't. She's deferred, and she's crushed. By a stroke of pure luck, an opportunity arises when the annual Grand Achievement award is up for grabs for the first time ever, and she's one of two eligible students. This is what she needs to win so she can (finally) get off Harvard's waitlist once and for all. There's only one problem: competition comes in the form of Blaise Yang, her childhood nemesis, and he refuses to back down.