***Please note that this book has been taken down because it's been published, and you can see only the sample chapters of the published version. **This is Bullied's sequel, and it can't be read as a stand-alone. *This blurb contains spoilers, so it is advised not to read it unless you read Bullied first. -------------------------- Two months have passed since the day I pushed Hayden away. Two months since I found out he loved me and wanted to be with me. I've been trying to move on and forget about him, but my heart refuses to listen. Hayden had almost died saving me. Half of me wants to forgive him for everything and give him another chance. The other half prevents me from doing so, distrusting him and ignoring my heart's desires. Hayden is dark and complicated, and as the days pass, he gets further away from me, ignoring me whenever our paths cross. I have less than a year before I go to college, and I won't see him ever again. I have to believe I will get over him and move on with my life. I have to believe in my future without him. Unless he didn't really move on, and our masks are about to fall.

What if all you saw around you was black and white until you saw your soul mate? For Jane and Ashton, color first became apparent to them at a concert.

Ari Callahan has no idea how to talk to boys -- or how to talk to anyone for that matter. Enter Zac, the cute new guy in town who won't stop texting her. But is his interest real, or does he have a hidden agenda? ***** Found as a young child washed up on the beach, 17-year-old Ari Callahan has never uttered a word out loud to anyone -- not even her adoptive family. Psychologists have diagnosed her with a condition called selective mutism, but Ari can't help identifying with her namesake character, Ariel, the little mermaid in the fairytale whose voice was stolen by a sea witch. Mermaid-obsession aside, Ari's silence makes socializing tough. She's never had a boyfriend or been asked out on a date. Not until Zac, the confident new arrival in town, asks for her number. But Zac has his own reasons for texting with Ari. He's part of a movement to sabotage the artificial music app called SirenSong, threatening to render human singing obsolete. Zac's collaborators have scoured the globe in search of a singing voice perfect enough to break the SirenSong spell, and their search has led them straight to Ari's beachside town. Will her relationship with Zac help Ari find her voice and unlock the secrets of her origins? Or will he use her and leave her high and dry? Title: Ari and Zac (formerly The Mermaid Hypothesis) Content Warning: This story contains references to selective mutism, suicidal thoughts, and early childhood trauma.