madisonhoyos
Marie never thought she'd be the girl who mattered. Growing up, she was the quiet one, the girl nobody noticed, who stayed on the sidelines of life and blended into the background. Tennis was her escape, her way of being seen without actually being seen, her discipline and skill the only things she could rely on. She wasn't popular, she wasn't part of any crowd, and for a long time, that suited her just fine.
But then Darren came into her life, with an uncanny ability to make her feel like maybe, just maybe, she could be more than the girl she had always been, more than the girl who no one ever paid attention to. Their friendship grew quickly, and when Darren invited her to a Halloween party, it was a moment that changed everything. A stolen kiss in a dark parking lot, the first kiss she had ever shared with anyone, forced Marie to confront everything she thought she knew about herself.
Yet, despite the undeniable chemistry, despite the undeniable connection, Marie finds herself caught in the pull between her past and her present, between the life she's always known and the one she could have had. As she reflects on the relationship she shared with Darren, she realizes that the man she once dreamed of being with is not the man she thought he was, and the love she hoped for was never meant to be.
Behind Her Eyes is a poignant, emotional journey through Marie's memories and reflections, as she grapples with the tension of what could have been and what truly was. A story told in flashbacks, the novel explores the complexities of growing up, finding yourself, and learning to let go. It's about reconciling past mistakes with present realities, and the bittersweet truth that sometimes the people we want most are never meant to be ours.
As Marie watches Darren find happiness with Meredith, she's left to reconcile her own growth-one that may not involve him, but might just lead her to a life she's never imagined.