❝What if your true love was standing right in front of you? Would you even know it?❞
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Archer Lancaster is a poor, quite, ignorant, stubborn boy looking to go places once he graduates high school. He dreams of leaving Ocala to go to Princeton University to be a successful full time author. But above all, he strives to be the man of the house, Archer feels he can't leave Ocala due to his family's financial problems, and the lack of a fatherly figure. He runs the family Cafe with the help of his mother Michelle and two younger sisters Alice, Evan. If you thought his life couldn't get more complicated than it already was, one of Archer's little sister’s Alice was born with a birth defect of a collapsed lung. With Archers family so far in medical debt, does he really have the choice to leave?
Millie Parker, a struggling writer/author. Complex in her own way, and like unlike any other american teenager, she wouldn’t dream of leaving the safety of her house. No teenage ragers, no late night parties, sneaking around with boys, or drunk driving. With no passion to be someone special when she grows up, Millie lives day to day simply existing. She owns a blue jeep that squeaks on the right wheel when she stops, and she has those annoying white fluffy dice that hang from her rear-view mirror. She enjoys walking alone on the beach, watching trivia shows alone, grabbing her pet cat "Kitty" for a sit down on the couch to watch Girl Code and The Walking Dead.
But when Archer Lancaster, gets up in front of class to present his essay that was no where near perfection, the simplicity of his words turned Millie's world upside down and sparked a fire in her. The inspiration to be someone.
In this coming of age novel, watch Millie and Archer fall in love, see the every perk of a basic american relationship, and be there to figure out, What Drives You?
Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option.
*****
Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her...
Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault.
[[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]