2020 WATTYS WINNER in NEW ADULT! Oliver Ausman has been given a second chance at life, but it's hard to feel grateful when he was the one trying to end it in the first place. Returning to his normal life after being released from the hospital is hard, especially since his parent's idea of normal is made up of dinner parties, prep school, fancy suits, and fake manners-- all paired with a complete disregard for the mental health of their firstborn. He's long been fed up with it, but the final straw is when he finds out that his "father" isn't actually his father at all. Oliver decides he's had enough of the perfect facade, so he packs a suitcase and grabs his younger brother, "borrowing" his mother's car to sneak off on a trip to find his biological father. But he never expected to pick up a girl with her own similar set of problems, to be followed across the country by a money-hungry pair of criminals, or most of all, to find out that maybe this life thing isn't as bad as he thought. 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 (𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝) - 𝟏/𝟐𝟐/𝟐𝟎

*FORMERLY CALLED VIDEO GAMES* They were supposed to play each other, like it would be some sort of simple game. [gen fic #124, humor #217]

❝𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘎𝘙𝘈𝘛𝘜𝘓𝘈𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕𝘚. 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘏𝘈𝘝𝘌 𝘉𝘌𝘌𝘕 𝘈𝘊𝘊𝘌𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘋 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘖 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘎𝘈𝘔𝘌. 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘛𝘌𝘈𝘔 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌 𝘐𝘚: 𝘍𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘖𝘍 𝘊𝘓𝘜𝘉𝘚.❞ Everyone at Rutherford High is familiar with the elite and anonymous group known as The Seven. When they announce a competition to win five thousand dollars, an unlikely group of students decide to band together in an attempt to win it all. But they aren't the only ones with their eyes on the prize, and with every challenge seeming more absurd than the last, they'll be forced to question just how far they're willing to go to win- and why. Join the Four of Clubs in their journey of friendship, romance, and excitement as they learn to work together to decipher the riddles and comple the dares that get them one step closer to victory. 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 (𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝) - 𝟖/𝟑𝟏/𝟏𝟖 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 (𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐬) - 𝟏𝟐/𝟐𝟖/𝟏𝟗

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION In 1955, mixed-race Ethan Harper leaves his progressive hometown for a summer in Alabama where he's not welcome, except by resident free spirit, Juniper Jones. ***** After getting himself into a bout of trouble, 16-year-old Ethan Harper's parents send him to Ellison, Alabama, to live with his aunt and uncle for the summer. But the year is 1955, and Alabama is a far cry from his beloved home of Arcadia, Washington. As much as it's hotter in temperature, it's colder in every other way, and Ethan learns the hard way that people see his mere existence as a threat. Amidst all the mayhem, a fiery, free-spirited, oddball walks into Ethan's life. Her name is Juniper Jones. She is the first person in Ellison who seems unfazed by their racial differences, and she promises to give Ethan a summer he will always remember, filled with endless adventure and discovery. With Juniper, Ethan can breathe, he can be, despite the incessant attention and bullying their newly formed friendship attracts. Can the two survive the summer, run in the light and block out the noise of the outside world? [Published version comes out June 16, 2020 with Wattpad Books!] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]