* * * Maya Smith is a girl living in a sea of trouble. She feels like there's nothing for her in this life, no way that she'll ever become normal again. Conrad Wilkins is a boy who's been bred from darkness and misfortune. He sees himself as one who isn't worthy of love; someone who women would always run away from. Together, they make a pair destined on not looks, but circumstantial similarities. And together, they will overcome the plague of flicker pain - the pain ready to knock you back into the world of indecisiveness and fear as soon as you learn to smile... [short chapters]

A victim of child abuse ever since the death of her mother, Cassidy Taylor has become a shy, quiet girl who's naive to the real world. When she meets Carson Matthews, the delinquent jock who seems to be afraid of nothing, her demise seems unclear. Carson's mask begins to shed, revealing his true self. Cassidy grows closer and closer to revealing her deepest secret. Whether or not this is for better or for worse is up to them, and how well they choose to play.