[01/07/2021] - [13/04/2023] "You can't keep going around like a fucking maniac and treating me like shit. That isn't how relationships work," Sophia's voice was havoc as she verbalized her emotions. "That isn't how we work..." Tired, vulnerable and agitated at not only him, but herself. How could she let herself get this far, in such little time? He looked down, ashamed, not wanting to respond. His heart felt like it was beating faster than it should've. "I forgot how it felt to love you." As soon as those words were uttered from Sophia's lips, his world broke apart. Gone, in just a matter of seconds. - - - When Sophia Adam moves to a new town, she wishes nothing more than a boring, new life, to separate herself from her past. Moving meant completing university and getting a clerkship with a judge. Moving meant making refreshing new friends, and meeting a mysterious guy that seems hell-bent on getting to know her. To Sophia, moving to a new town was everything she imagined and more. She just didn't expect her past to follow.

❝ Things are only as beautiful as you make them, Charlie. Including murder. ❞ It's the opening night of Burton Abbey's production of Romeo and Juliet and all is going smoothly - that is until the climactic death scene. Romeo takes a big gulp of the poison to be with his lover, except it really is poison and Elijah, who plays Romeo, is now dead. Charlie Monet, in charge of props, is the first suspect but soon the suspicion around her turns to worry as it seems she's the next target. Khaleel Rahim, an aspiring writer, is dying for a mystery to solve at his new school. When he sees Charlie sneaking around at night he thinks he's finally found something worth writing about. After discovering Charlie's ability to see visions of the past, Khaleel decides that they're the perfect pair to solve the mystery. With threatening notes, a quiet library and poison disguised as props; somebody in the school is blurring the lines between theatre and reality and the fast friends are about to discover that there's more to boarding school than just silly rumours. [2022 Watty's Shortlist]