"Never call a girl a bitch," I glared into his eyes as he opened them, piercing into me, the bright blue drink I had just poured over him still dripping from his dark hair. "Or she just might act like one." I gave him one last sarcastic smile before pushing by him and walking away, practically strutting. Well, this year will be fun... • • • • Crystal Summers; a self-proclaimed expert in all things sarcastic and the human embodiment of destructive decisions. Trying to get away from her troubled past, she moves with her mom to California to start a new life, and potentially not screw this one up. There, she quickly meets Scarlett and Savanah, her new-found partners in crime, and her life finally begins to feel normal again for the first time in years. But she just so happens to also collide with the school's sexy, notorious jackass, Ashton Monroe.. and his pack of asswipes. She loathes him, and the feeling is mutual. But as the poets say, the line separating love and hate is a very thin one. And often times, when two people hate each other, it can grow into much more. Hopeless devotion, if you will... • • • • !!!TRIGGER WARNING!!! • slight mention(s) of suicidal concepts • substance abuse, addiction, anxiety, PTSD • sexual assault, domestic abuse • strong language and mature scenes • • • •

Betrayed and threatened by her friends and boyfriend, Avery Javier flees to her Ninong Tony's ranch in Batangas to heal. She doesn't expect to end up marrying one of her ninong's workers, the mysterious Tobias Capistrano. *** Avery leaves Manila after a traumatizing betrayal from the people she trusted and runs off to De Lamar Ranch. There, she meets Tobias, the handsome and quiet right-hand man to her ninong--and her future husband. Avery refuses to marry him, but her dad and ninong insist it's for her protection against unwanted advances, and Tobias has no complaints either--almost as if he actually wants to settle down with her. But just when Avery's starting to accept that she's now a Capistrano, she discovers who Tobias truly is--the vengeful and cunning son of a wronged mother. With his secrets and thirst for revenge, Tobias, the person she loves, might also be the person who ruins her. DISCLAIMER: This story is written in Taglish. COVER DESIGN: Louise De Ramos

" to say i love you is the biggest understatement in this world because i don't just love you, patricia. I adore you more than life itself, more than you'll ever know, and as endless as forever" -adam