Rory Kavanagh. My brother's best friend. The fella who's been in and out of our house since we were barely out of nappies-boots on the floor, toast crumbs everywhere, laughing loud enough to shake the walls. He's always just been Rory. Tyler's mate. Part of the furniture. When we were younger, I used to tag along after them like a shadow, thinking he was only half-human, half-superhero. Never thought much of it. But then I blinked, and we weren't kids anymore. He grew taller, broader, nicer somehow. And suddenly I was seeing him differently. Like, dangerously differently. Now I'm tutoring him-me, the nerdy one-trying to keep him from flunking his exams. Every week it's just us at his kitchen table, his notes ignored, him grinning across at me like he's in on some secret I'm too afraid to name. He's still Tyler's best friend. Still the one I shouldn't even be thinking about. Right? ...Right? ***** Tanna Biggs. Jaysus, she's something else. Always has been. Sweet, quiet, clever as anything. Used to follow me and Tyler around asking a thousand questions, and I'd roll my eyes, but truth be told, I never minded. She's grown up now though. And she's class. Proper gorgeous-the type of girl who doesn't even realise she is. Hair like sunlight, brown eyes that make you forget your own name, freckles she pretends to hate but I swear could start wars. She's small, soft-spoken, but she's sharper than anyone I know. She's meant to be helping me study, but half the time I've no idea what she's saying. I'm too busy watching her laugh, pushing her glasses up her nose, biting her lip when she's concentrating. I keep telling myself to cop on. She's my best friend's little sister. Off-limits. But every time she looks at me with those eyes, all shy and sure at once, I can't help thinking- maybe some rules are meant to be broken.

ʟᴇᴛ's ʙᴇ ʙᴇsᴛ ғʀɪᴇɴᴅssss

Myla Doherty is the kind of girl people don't worry about. Sweet, soft-spoken, always smiling. With ginger curls and a heart like spun gold, she's the safe one. The friend who remembers birthdays, texts back fast, and forgives more than she should. Her world is quiet, mostly. Two parents are always working. A boyfriend named Shay, who's good enough on paper. And a circle of girls who'd burn the world down for her-if she ever let them see how lonely she really gets. But then there's Elliot Holland. The boy who disappears for days without warning. The one with anger in his eyes and a chip on his shoulder the size of everything he won't say. Fights follow him like shadows. So do the rumours. But none of that ever scared Myla-because she met him before the world turned him sharp. Back in first year at Tommen, when he sat beside her in class and made her laugh like no one else ever could. She called him her friend. He called himself her charity case. Now, years later, nothing's simple anymore. Elliot's still half in, half out. Still angry. Still protective in a way he doesn't show. Especially around Shay-Myla's picture-perfect boyfriend who Elliot can't stand but never says a word about. Because that's not his place. Not anymore. Except Myla keeps looking at him like she still sees the boy he used to be. And Elliot keeps finding reasons to stay longer than he should. And maybe whatever this is between them isn't done. Not really. Not yet. Some people haunt you. Others ruin you quietly. But the worst ones? They stay in your life, smiling-while you're still trying to forget what it felt like to matter to them.

Some heartbreaks don't happen all at once. They build slowly, piece by piece, until one day you wake up and realize you've been carrying the weight of it for far too long. Maeve Quinn has always been the girl with the brightest smile, the one who makes jokes at midnight and defends cupcakes like they're her entire personality. She's the friend who shows up for everyone else. But no one sees the way she breaks in private-how she still aches for her sister Bree, who took her own life and left Maeve lost in the wreckage of a family that doesn't know how to heal. Her parents are around but never really there. Her brothers are living their own lives. And Maeve is left drifting-stuck between who she was before and the weight of what she's lost. Except for Kian Maguire. Kian doesn't talk much. He doesn't have to. He's the quiet one, always in Maeve's shadow, watching, noticing, waiting. Kian has been looking after Maeve for as long as he can remember-stepping in when she's about to fall, holding her steady without ever letting her see how much he cares. But Kian has his own grief too. His parents died in a car crash, leaving him, his older brother Caleb, and his younger sister Seiena to pick up the pieces. Kian tries to keep it all together, for his family, for Maeve-pretending it's all fine when it's really not. Losing 5 is a story about the heartbreaks that don't shout, the love that grows in the quiet, and the way two broken people can find each other in the mess. It's about family, loss, and learning how to hold on-when it feels like everything is slipping away.

Landon O'Brien is the boy who laughs too loud, flirts too much, and never lets anyone see past the surface. At seventeen, he's mastered the art of making everyone think he's fine. Life at home with his single mam and two younger siblings is chaos wrapped in love and too much noise-but it's his noise. He's used to being the glue. The one who keeps the mood up. The one who makes sure no one ever asks what he needs. Then there's Hannah Brewer. Cold. Untouchable. Sharp enough to draw blood without even raising her voice. She's the girl who doesn't date, doesn't hook up, and doesn't believe in giving second chances when she never gave first ones to begin with. Her house is silent. Her parents are always gone. And she copes in ways no one ever sees-not even her best friend, Reese. The only person who keeps trying to get close? Landon O'Brien. The one person she can't stand. He jokes. She cuts. He shows up. She shuts down. They shouldn't work. And they don't. Not even a little. Until everything else around them starts to fall apart. Behind Landon's laugh is a weight he doesn't share. Behind Hannah's walls are scars no one sees. As the year unfolds-with parties, fights, and friends slowly falling apart-two people on opposite ends of everything start to realize they might be more alike than either of them wants to admit. As their world gets messier-fractured friendships, parties gone wrong, secrets cracking open-Landon and Hannah get pulled into the kind of orbit that can't be explained. Not with words. Not with logic. Just pain. And want. And something they don't have a name for yet. And others leave you crossing lines you swore you'd never touch.

Avery Byrne doesn't do love. She doesn't even do feelings. What she does do is sarcasm, late nights, and keeping things casual-especially when it comes to boys. With a sharp tongue, a quick wit, and a reputation she's not interested in fixing, Avery's got her walls built high and her standards even higher. Between juggling school, her best friends, and her chaos-fueled younger brothers, she has no time for drama-especially not from Jonas Walsh. Jonas is the definition of trouble. Gorgeous, charming, and absolutely insufferable, he's the guy who can (and will) flirt with anything that breathes. With a different girl on his arm every other week and a cocky grin that dares anyone to challenge him, he lives to provoke-and Avery Byrne is his favorite target. They're not friends. They're not enemies. They're... something in between. Something wrapped in teasing glances, razor-edged banter, and moments they pretend not to notice. But when the lines start to blur, and their reckless games become harder to walk away from, Avery and Jonas find themselves caught in something messier-and realer-than either of them is ready to admit. Because falling for your favorite irritation? That's not part of the plan. In a world of parties, fights, friendships, and all the complications in between, Leaving 19 is a story about two people who swore they'd never fall-especially not for each other.

Reese Holland has always kept her head down, hidden behind a mask of humor and sarcasm, doing her best to ignore the chaos of her home life. With a drug-dealer brother, her other brother who spent his days trying to save himself and her, an alcoholic mother, and a father who was never around, Reese has learned that survival means staying quiet, keeping to herself, and never letting anyone get too close. But when she crosses paths with Tadhg Lynch-handsome, popular, and one of the most notorious members of the Hurling team-things begin to shift. Tadhg's focus on her, his interest in her, is something Reese can't ignore, even if she wants to. As the lines between friendship and something more blur, Reese is forced to confront feelings she's been burying for years. And as her relationship with Tadhg deepens, she's left questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, her family, and the life she's been trying to outrun. With friends like Landon, Jonas, and the ever-bitter Hannah, Reese finds herself caught between laughter and heartbreak, sarcasm and truth. Each conversation, each moment shared, only brings her closer to unraveling the truth-about Tadhg, about her family, and about the girl she's been pretending to be. But nothing is as simple as it seems. As secrets unfold and tensions rise, Reese must face the one thing she's been avoiding her whole life: the possibility of feeling something real. In this emotional and raw coming-of-age story, Reese learns that some things can't be fixed, but maybe-just maybe-she can learn to break free and build something new.