A pair of sky blue eyes looked back at me. Matthew. He tapped again. I got up and pulled open my window. "What are you doing here?" I asked timidly. Even though Matthew and I were neighbors, we certainly weren't friends. "I need somewhere to stay and your house is the closest." I noticed he was sporting a fresh bruise on his cheek bone. "Don't you have a friend's house you could go to?" I asked curiously. "That's the first place he'd look." he said simply but seriously. I bit my lip unsure. "Come on, Shaina. It's one night." I finally nodded and stepped away from the window. * This story contains scenes of bullying, self-harm, drugs and abuse with some mature language. *Go check out the sequel But Why Not

As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams? ***** Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]