Everyone sees Carmen as a strong girl with a bold personality, but sometimes it's those that laugh the hardest who have the biggest secrets and choose to suffer in silence. Carmen unexpectedly finds herself a babysitting job for a little girl named Grace Miller, she's mute and shy unlike her brother Carter who just so happens to be high schools man whore. What happens when he comes across Carmen and is the first to discover what shes been hiding. Started: 11 March 2022 Finished: 2 May 2022 Book 1/2

"Never call a girl a bitch," I glared into his eyes as he opened them, piercing into me, the bright blue drink I had just poured over him still dripping from his dark hair. "Or she just might act like one." I gave him one last sarcastic smile before pushing by him and walking away, practically strutting. Well, this year will be fun... • • • • Crystal Summers; a self-proclaimed expert in all things sarcastic and the human embodiment of destructive decisions. Trying to get away from her troubled past, she moves with her mom to California to start a new life, and potentially not screw this one up. There, she quickly meets Scarlett and Savanah, her new-found partners in crime, and her life finally begins to feel normal again for the first time in years. But she just so happens to also collide with the school's sexy, notorious jackass, Ashton Monroe.. and his pack of asswipes. She loathes him, and the feeling is mutual. But as the poets say, the line separating love and hate is a very thin one. And often times, when two people hate each other, it can grow into much more. Hopeless devotion, if you will... • • • • !!!TRIGGER WARNING!!! • slight mention(s) of suicidal concepts • substance abuse, addiction, anxiety, PTSD • sexual assault, domestic abuse • strong language and mature scenes • • • •

"Do you ever get scared of being happy?" He asked softly, also pretty tired. I kept my eyes closed as I answered, my fingers softly drawing circles on his chest. "All the time. I used to a lot more, but, the downfalls seem a lot less daunting now that I have someone to free-fall with," I replied, and I looked up to see him smile a little at that, "We're just dancing in the rain these days.. there's no need to be afraid of the inevitable clouds that are gonna pop up." • • • College. Officially a new start. Crystal can already feel the clean slate and new opportunities like a breath of fresh air. She's finally ready to move in towards a brighter future. She knows hard times will inevitably come throughout her life, but that no longer scares her. However, life does have a way of throwing the most unexpected of curveballs at you... Especially when you least are prepared for it. [BOOK TWO OF 'HOPELESSLY DEVOTED' SERIES] • • • !!! [ TRIGGER WARNING ] !!! • suicide, suicidal concepts • domestic abuse, sexual assault • substance abuse, alcoholism, addiction • anxiety, PTSD, panic attacks • strong language and mature scenes • • •