Why wasn't I moving anymore? I'd gone still, muddled at what I should do. My eyes swept up off my body and on to the boy, catching a breath in my throat when he smirked in my direction, flicking two fingers two in the air. "Hi," I read from his lips. Helplessly, I become entangled in his soft spoken greeting, taking the first leap to the captivating boy in the corner. I decided he was beautiful enough to become my distraction. My own little addiction until I left the safety of the pretend world we were all playing make-believe in. --------- Right when Silvia Ellington is about to start her senior year, her mother decides to have her move in with her aloof father and his "perfect" family in California. She promises to be on her best behavior, and for the most part, she's able to keep her snappy attitude in check...until she ends up going to a party one chilly night. In the adolescent madness, she finds a tattooed boy named Dakota. He's ungodly tall and has crystal blue eyes that can sway any good girl to do bad things. When they first meet, he makes it his job to show that he doesn't like Silvia. And he's got reasons. All she has to do is disarm this bad boy and unlock the secrets he's keeping deep inside. Before they know it, Silvia and Dakota embark on an emotional roller-coaster of a relationship that is bound to ruin a few lives. But when Silvia's own secrets come knocking on her door, will it tear them apart or will love prevail? HIGHEST RANKING: #1 in Action #2 in Humor #2 in Teen Fiction #1 in Drama #8 in Romance

FORMERLY TITLED "FATUM" Chosen as a Wattpad Featured Story in May 2017 There's a reason high school senior Athena Thorpe spends every available moment reading books: fiction is always so much better than the real world. Even the unexpected scandal she suffered thanks to Jackson Montgomery was just a blip in her typically mundane existence in Sparrow, North Carolina. But no story could ever compare to the life-altering events that occur when Gabriel Valente moves into town. Being the son of a notorious crime lord and having grown up on the streets of Manhattan, Gabriel defies all the expectations the students of Sparrow High have for him, including Athena's. She never expected he would match her interest in the written word, or his unlikely grand gestures and definitely not the immediate but intense feelings which cause them to spiral into a secret relationship. A relationship that hinders on Gabriel's uncertain future, which could find him being the heir to the mob throne. Whether or not she wants to admit it, Athena knows the world Gabriel comes from is a dark and violent one. It's just really easy to pretend it doesn't exist within the bubble that is Sparrow. Yet, no matter how much we pretend, reality is never far away, with Gabriel and Athena learning a tragic lesson about choice and consequence a little too late. When you finally decide what you want most in life, the next question becomes: will fate agree?