WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION Adrift after a failed suicide attempt, golden boy Everest can't find anything worth living for - until he meets Beverly, a loner determined to prove him wrong. ***** For a boy who seemed to have it all - wealth, good looks, popularity, a wide circle of friends - Everest Finley becomes the ultimate social outcast after failing to take his own life. Dejected and alone, he starts his last year of high school by acting out, determined to ruin his golden boy reputation after his best friend and girlfriend both turn on him. But to his surprise, resident loner Beverly Davis reaches out and tries to befriend him. Ever the optimistic, her empathy and persistence eventually convinces him to spend time with her, and the two slowly bond over their complicated family lives and a love of singing. But even as their budding friendship begins to hint at something more, Everest continues to struggle with depression and unhappiness. Can a simple pact between the two truly encourage him to find something worth living for? Content and/or Trigger Warning: this story contains mentions and descriptions of depression and self harm. -SKY

Throwing my first into the punching bag in front of me, I growled out in frustration. Anger contorted my face as my fists continued to fly into the bag. Pain shot through my knuckles as I hadn’t bothered to wrap my hands. I didn’t care. How could I care? All I could think about was the lifeless body of my partner as he lay in a pool of his own blood. It was an image that would be engrained in my mind for the rest of my life. One that would always send a shiver up my spine. One that I could have prevented from happening. After police officer Tyler Andrew’s partner is killed one night while on the job he vows never to become close with another partner. So what happens when the new partner he is assigned isn’t quite what he was expecting?