Romy Grier is your typical seventeen year old girl, aside from being home schooled. She has never attended regualr school a day in her life. That all changes when her mother who also happens to be her beloved teacher and friend, gets held up at a gas station, and murdered for the $33 in her purse. Unfortunately, Romy was there to witness the whole thing and was even sexually assaulted before anyone could save her. As help comes, the murderer is able to escape but not before whispering a threat in her ear that crushes her soul. Now, left broken and terrified without the most important person in her life, she is forced to move with her father to a more affordable neighborhood, and she is thrust into the grueling public school system. Will she be able to balance work, school and a social life? Can she handle the flashbacks and fear lurking nonstop within her mind? Worst of all can she find a cure for the new addiction she has after being raped? Most importantly, will she ever be able to be a normal teenage girl again? Find out as she gets tangled up in love, lies, betrayal, and heartache. She may not be able to get back to her old self, but with the help of a close friend, she learns how to love again. How to love others and how to love herself.
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]]