I am 17 year old Jessica and am in grade 11 at my high school in Pickering, Canada. I hated going to school because I was bullied everyday and I had no friends. one day I was at my locker getting my books for first period, when my locker was slammed closed by someone beside me. I turned and saw the leader of the popular people at my school, Brianna. she knocked my books to the floor and pushed my up against the lockers, she then whispered "I will make your life miserable!" She then let me go and that's when I noticed, everyone in the hallway was watching us. I am usually not the one to be mean to people, but the next thing I know was that I told Brianna, "It can't be any more miserable than yours already is!" She then pushed my against the lockers even harder this time, which caused a bang. I heard someone tell, "Hey! What the hell is going on here!?" Brianna then turned and left you there with everyone staring at you. You lean down to get your books of the floor, when you notice someone beside you reaching for your books as well. You look up and see a guy around 17 or 18 years of age, he finishes piling a your books on top of each other and reaches his hand out to help you up, you take. "Thanks! You didn't have to do that for me." "Don't worry about it. I'll see you around." He then turns and walks away. You couldn't help but smile, and you thought, "I recognize him from somewhere." Little did you know that you had just met Shawn Mendes.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]