My name is Harrison Lavinia Jones. I love my name, but not the Lavinia. I just use the L... Harrison L. Jones. A name like that could get a twelve year old girl picked on. Fortunately I live in a super big city, where lots of kids hail by unusual names. Unfortunately, things for me and my fabulous name were about to change...DRASTICALLY. My dad came home from work and made a shocker of an announcement. "We are moving to the desert." He said, very calmly, as if that was something people do all the time. How could I leave the city, move to a completely different state; and worse...live in a desert! A Desert? As in, sand, scorpions, and Cactus? Where would I shop for clothes! How would I get to the mall, or watch movies! What about Taco Bell...Berger King! Were there houses or water in the desert!
Then, the really bad news happened...dad told me I could only bring five moving boxes of my things with us. why, I ask. Because, he says, we are moving into a trailer...in a trailer park, he adds with a big goofy smile that was meant to be encouraging . What the H.E double hockey sticks is a trailer! Pictures of a big aluminum box, on wheels used for moving things swam through my mind.
I left the kitchen in shock and went upstairs, to my room. Flopping down on my bed, I let everything dad said sink in. Sadness set in and tears began to well up.
Then reality came to my mind and dried up those tears, I had to make new friends...
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]]