the road trip of a lifetime. [ cover by blissom / trailer by blissom ] [ started march 30th, 2013 - ended february 18, 2015 © paulina r. all rights reserved ]

A love story between two dysfunctional teens: one who runs forward, and one who flies backward.

[Includes Something about Summer & After Rain] Raine Evans had everything. Okay, maybe not. So she avoided her problems a bit too much and didn't have the best past, but she was happy. Then summer came. What started out as a crazy challenge and a devious, match-making best friend turned into an unconscious game of hearts. And somehow, everything she had been running from became inevitable. Three years later, it's all still broken. Forever had became just another seven letter word, and moving on was the only way to go. Until a chance meeting puts everything on pause. But no one's really ready to try again. After all, things are so much harder the second time around [WattyAwards2012 Finalist: Humor]

About a boy and a girl whose love for each other far exceeds their love for food.

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. *** Claire is lost and scared and utterly alone. Her family is in shambles after the death of her older sister Ina, and she's left to pick up the broken pieces of herself as her life heads into a downwards spiral of loneliness. Her heart leads her to 5:48, a little cafe by 33rd street, where she finds her new home. With a broken heart and a speech disability, Jasper has his heart and mouth sewn shut by the winding threads of hurt and fear. Painting and serving coffee in cafe 5:48 are one of his last few saving graces, but the smile he's been painting on himself will soon fade away as everything he's ever held dear slips away from his grasp. Ezra is out-of-sync and oddly cold by the way life has treated his young self. Abandoned by his single mother at an early age, he has grown up thinking that he is a mistake. His constant shaking hands are a reflection of what he often thinks of himself, but the delightful pastries he bakes for 5:48's customers are a reflection of what others see of him. Drew is a quirky rarity. He is a dash of loud, a pinch of exuberant, and a cup of eccentric - just like the meals he serves in the cafe as the only chef there. Behind his playful grins and outlandish clothes, however, are his jutting ribs, hollowed cheeks, and too-thin arms. Sometimes he cannot stomach being in his own skin as much as he cannot stomach food. This family has gone a long way from finding each other, and they'll be going a long way together too as reality comes catching up to them, threatening the newfound happiness they've found with each other. Secrets are revealed, pasts become presents, and lives are changed. Slowly but surely, they find their way back home. *** NOTE AS OF 08/2026: This is the old version of the story from 2012, posted in FULL. Another story that will be considered a reprise of this old version is in the works, and will be posted under the name "Hiraya House."

::: rewriting...

Meet Taya. Shy, clumsy and trying to take on the world even though she still hasn't figured out who she is yet. Follow her story through the struggles of being a teen whilst battling an unpleasent case of anxiety.