This story is about a teenage girl, and an exchange student her family takes in from the French speaking side of Canada. When she hears the news, Sylver can barely contain her own excitement. Unfortunately, her Dad is taking them in, and she only goes to her Father's house every other weekend. Still, she makes herself a goal to be their best friend.
She soon finds out that the student is a boy, but her family has yet to learn his name. Upon her first trip to her Father's house, the boy confides he does not like being called by a French name, as it feels awkward in America. Syl helps him choose an American name to go by for the time being.
The boy is a year younger than Syl, and as a result is a grade below her. It doesn't affect much, since they don't attend the same school anyway, but when the boy develops a crush on Syl, he worries about telling her, because he is afraid of rejection based on his being younger.
Based on how far I push this story will decide whether the mature rating stays off or not.
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]]