I looked down at the cars on the road and the people way down on the sidewalk. They looked like they were having fun.... I mentally slapped myself. "No," I said aloud. "You like it up here," I told myself, trying to smother the little spark inside of me that I knew wanted to just jump right off the balcony. __________________________________________________________ According to Mother, the only time that I ever left this apartment was when I was born in a hospital a few blocks away. My entire world view is limited to whatever I can see from our 37th story penthouse, which, honestly, isn't much. Mother thought that she controlled every aspect of my life. She was wrong. *formerly titled 'Let Down Your Hair'* ******************** Copyright © 2013 by Holly Ruth || Hollyruth If you see anyone copying this book, please let me know by a private message on wattpad. Thanks!

{Sequel to Elisabeth Marie} "There are SEVEN of you?" I asked again, not really believing. "Yeah," he replied, grinning. "You got a problem with that?" *** A little over a year ago, I didn't dare to dream of going outside. I certainly never would have thought that I would end up in a city that I knew virtually nothing about and absolutely no one, a complete stranger. Yet here I was. *Formerly titled 'Who's the Fairest'?* ******************** Copyright © 2015 by Holly Ruth || Hollyruth All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or events is entirely coincidental. If you see anyone copying this book, please let me know by a private message on wattpad or at my email, holly-ruth@hotmail.com. Thanks!

bal-co-nee-al ; of or referring to a balcony \\ in which a cynical girl and a disastrously (self-characterized) aromantic psychology student have daily discussions between neighbouring balconies \\ #1 in short story june & july 2k15 \\ book 1

Olivia Harris has one dream: to become a professional photographer. She’s determined and even went out of her way to intern at a well known photography company. Olivia knows that doing so may give her an opportunity to pursue her dream a step further. What she doesn't know is that, sometimes, expectations don't go as expected. When her dream takes a detour, Olivia finds herself running out of time since she’s graduating high school in less than five months. Her situation doesn’t get better when she has a bitter encounter with her locker buddy she has never spoken to. The two are like fire and ice. But, doesn’t heat have the ability to melt the frost? Olivia claims she will never spare a breath with her locker buddy ever again, yet somehow, she ends up saving him. And the more time Olivia spends with her locker buddy, the more she wants to discover what his compositions are all about.

He's a would-be college student stacking books in the local library. She's a high school senior nearing graduation. He leads a life of organized chaos and she's living by the book. He's free but all she can see are consequences. You can't control who you fall in love with. [To be published end of summer 2025. Stay tuned for details.]

“Love’s like a bullet. It’s fast. It’s furious. Sometimes you can’t see it coming. You can run from it. But you can’t dodge it. Unless someone stands in your way…” Growing up, Callie Tollson had always admired her older brother, Clay, for being exactly who he wanted to be…despite the consequences he faced doing so. With their roles reversed, Callie had always been the one to stand up for Clay when he was in harm’s way. She always thought this was enough. She thought she was able to protect him. That is until he turned the tables and unleashed harm back on those who had done it to him. She couldn’t understand why, being the one who stood up for him the most, she was the one he picked as the receiver for the final bullet in his gun. Now she’s the most feared girl in school with a haunting family tie to keep her stuck in the halls of Riverton High. As she tries to survive the rest of her junior year as the sister of the boy who brought a gun to school, she soon realizes she owes nothing to the boy who turned on her and everything to the boy who saved her life.

The first time Mel saw Dean was in an elective class called Madness in Literature. He had been sitting a few rows down in his green parka, writing furiously into his notebook. Something about him made her stop and stare, and it felt like she hasn't looked away since. But there is a reason why Dean seldom comes to class. And why he seems reluctant to be her friend. And why he disappears for ages with answering her messages. Mel would have been bothered by all of it, except that she doesn't care. When it comes to Dean, she was willing to overlook a lot of things. This is a short story about two young people trying to find themselves and instead stumbling upon love.

Hadley Jamison doesn't know what to think when she hears that her classmate, Archer Morales, committed suicide. She didn't exactly know him, but that doesn't stop her from feeling like there was something she could have done to help him. So to Hadley's surprise, on the very night of Archer's funeral, she has a run in with Death himself and is offered the chance to go back in time to stop Archer from ending his life. The catch? She only has twenty-seven days to do it. And if Hadley doesn't succeed? Well, she doesn't want to think about that.

Everyone has that one guy. The one who broke your heart, the one who got away, the one you can't decide if you regret. Because the thing about first loves' is that you really did fall, and even though life fell short of happily ever after there were still things worth remembering. But while your first love is the hardest, it doesn't have to be the last. At least, that's what Arya's realizing. Told from past and present perspectives, Alone on Cloud 9 is about a girl who lived in her dreams and the one day that changed everything…

Reid has been homeless on the streets of New York for years now, fighting for cash in clubs and sleeping in empty buildings. With his special ability, Reid could have whatever life he wanted, but chooses not to. When Sam meets Reid on the subway, she has a hard time forgetting about him, and not only because he keeps showing up in the least likely of places. Sam doesn't know it at first, but the boy she just met is about to show her a whole other world.