| a true story about a boy who hides his pain behind his smile and a girl determined to see it | - FREE story with paid Exclusive Chapters and Writer Reveals - Twice Featured - Taylor Ming is trying to cope with the aftermath of her twin brother's suicide, and her depressed mother and avoidant father aren't really helping. With one of her friends' self-harming while another deals with a chronically ill boyfriend, being diagnosed with Diabetes and forced to use insulin thrice a day is Taylor's worst nightmare. When she catches the school's golden boy Shane Gray popping pills in a bathroom, then, Taylor is sure she's in a living hell. Is he depressed? Is he using drugs? She's afraid of losing more people and strikes a deal with Shane. He'll tell her if he ever has the urge to hurt himself and she'll keep his secret. What neither of them knows, however, is that he's already hurting himself without knowing it. And Shane's life is falling apart quicker than Taylor's. Because life isn't black and white and, sometimes, seeing gray can make all the difference. Warning: The story talks about suicide, self-harm, drug use, and mental health problems which may be triggering for some readers.

When Camila was little she use to be a brunette. But as she grew many things changed, as well as her hair. Her now lilac hair represents her spark of life. Austin Park is the most popular guy at school. He has good grades, his girlfriend is the captain of the cheer squad, and not to mention he is the best looking guy at Cambull High. People can describe his life as 'perfect'. Everything is going fine until she shows up, Camila Stein. Her lilac hair caught his eye, but her attitude is what intrigued him. But she has a secret. Will she be saved in the end? ********** Warning: contains violence #1 in Teenfiction 1/23/2020

Perhaps tomorrow, the flowers will begin to bloom for you, too. Wattpad Pick - 4/19/18 (Pocketful of Posey) Featured on TeenFiction (Trending Teen Fiction) Featured on WattpadPoetry (Heart Stains)

When June, a flesh-and-blood illustration of depression, ultimately decides to quit breathing, she settles on drowning herself in a lake. However, with an extraordinary twist of fate, she is resurrected by a boy named Forrest. Captivating, kind, and honest, he offers her the things she's been deprived of the most. As time comes and goes, June begins to understand that she - after long years of doubt - is worthy of life. She begins to see that sometimes, what seems to be the end may be just the beginning.

First day of college. Darcy Winters is a new student, she's quiet, quirky, lovable but not what people expect when they really get to know her, she puts on an act to mask what goes on in her head, to fight the battle of mental illness that controls her life, she doesn't tell most people because most people simply don't care or call her an attention seeker so she doesn't bother to let anyone in, but there is someone who lies in her future that she just might let in. Issac Flynn, the lovable rouge of the college, he's been a student for longer then he should by having failed most his subjects, he's very cheeky and wins over the hearts of teachers to get what he wants but will he also win the heart of someone else when all the new students arrive?

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

Evie Ashry's life crumbled in front of her as she watched her mother die. Her mother's death took everything from her. For her whole life she was the kid her well known father left behind in his nasty divorce and now she lives in his luxurious mansion. She never thought she would be the kid who had watched someone take their last breath. Every aspect of Evie's unfortunate life has changed. Can she handle the endless cash from her father, suddenly having siblings , and the guilt of being the one that lived?

Her name is Sweetie - yes, that's her given name - and it makes perfect sense. With a name like that, it'd be impossible not to love ice cream, smiles, and the color yellow. She is the good girl... but she wants to be more. Jake's face is permanently set in a scowl, and that's not even the most intimidating thing about him. He learned how to throw a punch before he learned how to ride a bike. He is the bad boy. He wants to be more. When a failed attempt at running ends with the good girl in the bad boy's arms, worlds will collide in the most incredible way - but is the fallout bitter, or is it sweet? ••• . • . TRIGGER WARNING . • . Alcoholism Divorce/separation Mentions of abuse Parental death Strong language ••• SIGN BLM PETITIONS HERE: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-Zp8Om6X_qvSNOrlG1j79r_sIcdSihAZ1JgtE3094Jw/mobilebasic

"I don't care if I fall for the devil, just as long as that devil loves me the way he loves hell." Rhazien is the type of man everyone wants to get away from. Rhazien is known to be cold hearted, ruthless, and willing to kill anybody, no matter their age or gender. He sees nothing but darkness in the world and he'll be damned if he lets himself get pulled in deeper than he already is. Josephine grew up caring for others around her. Despite her struggle to care for her alcoholic mother and pay bills, she holds to the promise she made to her late father to always stay happy, no matter what she loses in the process. Josephine has nothing left but love to give. And she's determined to give it to the beautiful man glaring at her.

A world where everything is stereotypical. Girls can't work and are treated as slaves. Boys always have the upper hand. A story where a 21 year old girl named Bree has to be trained into being a house-wife. Then forced into a marriage with a boring, disgusting man named Eric But what happens when there is freedom. when one day she bumps into the Mexican mafia and she had a choice. Stay or leave. So she runs away with them. They become her family, her friends, her life. what happens when she opens an illegal club underground and falls for a certain criminal What happens when Eric finds her... What happens when she finds her long lost brother in this club... What happens when secrets are revealed...