He lit his cigarette, I lit nothing. He drank alcohol, I drank water. He smirked, I smiled. He didn't love me, I didn't love him. He and I together wouldn't last a day. And then the game started... He said he found me intriguing, unique, and interesting because I didn't swoon over him. "You and me Grey, let's play a game. We'll date and in three months time I promise you will fall for me. When you fall in love with me between that time span, I win. If in any way you were to win I'll give up all the alcohol, cigarettes, and player ways." It was a game I wasn't willing to lose, but all games had accidents and consequences. It takes a broken heart to know how to break a heart.

"So," Coffee Shop Boy said. I was watching his web-show. He took my earlier and programmed his number into it. Out of curiosity, I texted him and asked him his name. Coffee Shop Boy said 'don't worry, cutie, watch my show and all will be revealed.' So here I am, watching his show as I tried not o look at my scars. "I met this girl today at the coffee shop I always go to. I won't say her name because I want her to do something for me at the end of the segment. Anyways, she was crying when we met and I wanted to know why. Fellas, you should never let a crying girl go unconsoled, even if you don't know her. I pulled her over to a table and started talking to her like we had know each other all out lives. This girl is beautiful, inside and out. But I noticed that she had these cuts on her wrists, and I thought 'why would such a beautiful girl feel the need to harm herself?'. I asked her about it, but she avoided my question easily. "Coffee Shop Girl, this is where I have to ask something of you. If you want to know my name, meet me at the Coffee Shop tomorrow after school. I''m gonna need a friend since we're going to the same school, after all." * * * Ophelia Bello is the daughter of divorced parents. She has two older siblings, one sister and one brother, that are biological and two more half-siblings. Her mother, who remarried three years ago, has almost completely forgotten about her and her father lives a new life with her twin brother. Her older sister is away at college and has seemed to forget her too. So she cuts to take the pain away. Ophelia meets Bram Stomes in the coffee shop where she used to work. She instantly feels wanted by the was he talks and pays attention to her. Maybe this is her reason to stop hurting herself. All rights reserved 2014 Jane Dugan

16 year old Charlotte Moore seems like the average high school girl; good grades, great friends, and somewhat liked. Charlotte has a secret only a few people know about. She's being abused by her widower father. After the death of her mother eleven years ago, he turned to drugs and alcohol and turned his only child's life into a living hell. Daniel Weston, most infamous senior at the high school and captain of boys track, notices there's something wrong with Charlotte one day. Will he find out? Or will he keep his reputation and not talk to the little outsider? All rights reserved Jane Dugan 2014

She steals, she lays in the streets at night, she's tired, and hungry, and alone. Bailey Lillian Nova was abandoned by her parents who never wanted her in the first place. She's the youngest of five, the most rebellious, and the one her parent's couldn't handle. Her biggest secret got her kicked out of her home and now she travels the country, trying to find a place to call home. Seth Matthews finds a girl curled behind a dumpster one day while working at his family's pizzeria. She was cold, tired and barely lucid. He scoops the girl up and brings her inside, where his entire family nurses her back to health. Bailey feels comfortable and safe for once in her eighteen years of life. Seth slowly, but surely, falls deeply in love with the girl he found, and so did the rest of his large, Italian family. Just as life got good, everything crashed down when Bailey saw her parents on the television, looking to find her again. Just how long can Bailey stay before she has to run again? All rights reserved 2014 Jane Dugan

Hallelujah-Holly- Abbi Snow was the golden child. Her father and mother heirs to one of the biggest bed and breakfast chains that is still family owned and operated, the oldest of four. She's a straight A student, captain of the cheer-leading squad, perfect quarterback boyfriend, most popular girl in school. And she can't take it anymore. Her perfect life is making her robotic exterior crack. For years, to take away the pain of stress, Holly took Opiates, or over the counter drugs. Kieran Dawn is Holly's polar opposite, but she's drawn to him regardless. There's something calming about his personality that makes her relax and wean off her addiction. The two are brought together by one thing; art. Kieran learns everything about her with in a matter of weeks, including her addiction. He is so wrapped around her finger, Keiran is willing to do anything to help her quit drugs forever, except fall in love with her. Holly's bad-boy has a secret that he won't tell her, even after how close they had gotten. All rights reserved 2014 Jane Dugan

Angelo knew his mother was trying to play matchmaker when she suggested then paid for his maid service. The only problem was when he laid eyes on Francesca the maid standing barefoot in his kitchen, wearing his favorite tee shirt with possibly nothing under it, cooking his favorite dish, and singing one of his favorite songs. He knew that he may possibly be in danger of losing his heart for the first time.

Faith Mitchell was never confident. She was happy to blend into the background, much to the protest of her friends. At 16, her life was a normal teenage cliche. She was in love with Jace, the obnoxious player who she couldn't have, and her biggest worry was whether or not he would finally come to his senses and see that she really was the one for him. That is until she is kidnapped and recruited by a secret agency of assassins. She is torn away from her normal teenage life and thrown into a world of guns, knifes and criminals. The agency mold her into the perfect killing machine, and at 19 she is no longer the shy girl that was snatched away from her uncomplicated life, but a ruthless killer who will stop at nothing to complete whatever mission she is on. Then, the agency has a new mission which involves Faith returning to her hometown, and facing her friends, family and the very boy who broke her heart just before it turned into stone. What will happen once Faith comes face to face with Jace? Will the obnoxious player be able to reach out and get the old Faith back without pressing any of her wrong buttons, considering that the shy girl he once knew now has a gun. (WATTY AWARDS 2011) (THE FICTION AWARDS 2017) ©makeandoffer

When kids are young and full of innocent wonder, they're asked the question that will haunt them far into their adult lives: what do you want to be when you're older? Kyleigh Frost's answer to this very question was that she wanted to be thin. Ever since she could remember, all she wanted to do with her life is to be the skinniest girl out of everyone she met on the streets. If she couldn't be the brightest kid in her school or win the next cycle of America's Next Top Model, she might as well be the thinnest one there. After all, to be fat is the biggest sin one could ever commit in today's society.

Normal is... Jade has no clue. When her mother dies and she moves in with her father, she feels like she's entered a different world. Used the threatening situations and secret identities, Jade is surprised to find that normal life might be the biggest challenge she's ever faced.

If you mentioned Ally Scythe to someone, they'd say one of three things. 1) That girl can skate. 2) Doesn't she work at the bookshop? or 3) Poor thing, her mother's death was a tragedy. Nobody would even consider the fact that she is battling something nobody should ever half to deal with. When she meets Cooper, she finally begins to believe there is good in people. With the help of her new boyfriend and the kindly old lady she works for, Ally makes a decision that changes her path of life forever.