Eight Years Ago "Mom.." I say with a small smile on my face. My sister had passed her first music lesson and we're all so proud of her. "What is it Layla!? can't you see I'm busy?!" She snaps. "Oh.." I say, my smile faltering slightly, as I watch mom cuddle Heidi and give her lots of sweets as reward. "C-can I have a sweetie too?" I ask. Mom laughs coldly. "Why should you? You've never achieved anything, have you?! Lazy little brat." Heidi giggles and I look at her to see a smirk on her face, making my face fall. I watch mom whisper things to Heidi, making her giggle even more. The door swings open, and my dad walks in. I smile again, running to him and hug his knees but he just brushes me off with an annoyed expression, walking towards my mom hugging her and ruffling Heidi's hair. What's going on? "Dad..ruffle my hair too?" I ask hesitantly. All three of them burst out laughing and I sink down in embarassment. "Layla, we always knew you weren't the brightest kid here." He laughs "I just knew you'd be a screw up, right Luise?" He says and she nods. "And I was right. You're a failure" He grabs my maths sheet, crumples it up and throws it at me. "You spend way too much time with your 'friends' never on your education, you ungrateful little brat. We should've got rid of you as soon as we found out you were on the way." He spits out spitefully as my mum nods, still smirking. "Dad I'll do better, I promise!" I sob, tears streaming down my face, but he shakes his head, smirking. I look at my sister and walk towards her giving her a watery smile. "H-Heidi... we're still friends right?" I ask, desperately. Her smirk slowly vanishes. she leans forward and I thought she'd hug me, but instead she pulls my hair and pushes me onto the floor making me scream. She laughs, my parents joining her. "Stupid" she hisses, kicking me, before going to my parents, all of them walking out, leaving me on the floor, crying my eyes out. What have I done to deserve this?

Trinity's boyfriend of three years was supposed to be due back from college for summer break but one phone call from his mother changed her life forever. He committed suicide and judging from the letter he left for her, he left out the part why he did what he did. With that, she was left alone, heartbroken for the rest of the summer till she started her freshmen year in college, to where her dead boyfriend went to school as well. This is a story about loss, love, getting over grief, understanding and giving life a second chance.

High school is hard for most people and for Chloe Miller, this is no exception. She is forced to learn the perils of her choices the hard way and the result leads her to building a steel wall around herself that is impossible to crack. Eventually, her mother loses her job and Chloe is then forced to move in with her cousin and their family. This means a new school and on the first day she arrives with a dynamite mission in mind. A mission to reclaim everything that she had once lost at the hands of others. She quickly finds herself fighting a past that she struggles to forget and creating a future that she can live with. It becomes a constant battle for her, centered around peer pressure, character stereo types, cliques and consequences. Couple that with the plight of falling in love and she finds herself playing a starring role in the game of life where everyone is playing for keeps. Will she win... or will she lose? Excerpt: Sauntering forwards, she slid onto his lap with all the grace of a prima ballerina and wrapped her long arms around his neck. Leaning in to his ear, she blew out a little puff of hot air so that it fanned lightly over all the right places. She felt a sense of utter satisfaction when he shuddered. Now that Chloe was certain that she had his attention, she whispered in his ear. “You may have been the best bucko, but guess what…..I’m going to be better.” She lifted up so that she could look him in the face and smiled confidently back at him. His previous cocky demeanor had seemed to have lost some of its earlier steam, “Who are you?” he asked so low that only Chloe could hear him. His forehead was creased as he searched her face, watching her as if she was some type of strange puzzle that needed to be solved. Chloe lifted her hand patted his cheek. The boy didn’t have a clue. “I, my friend, am your biggest adversary. So what do you say Mr. Player, won’t you play with me?”

It was hard for Charlotte to let go of her best friend, Dalton, the boy she fell in love since she was nine years old, to make way for her sister, Caroline, who happens to be in love with him too. It was hard for her but in order to make someone happy, even if it meant sacrificing her own, she was willing to let go. It all happened around her senior year, where she let go the only thing that mattered to her and after graduation, she moved away with no intention of going back. Four years later, on her college graduation day, her parents asked rather demanded her to come home with a reason that shocked her senseless.