Highest ranking: #1 in Short Story
*Rewriting and Editing on hold*
It was a race to leave behind her toxic past, the past that demolished her image, her family, and her sanity. Moving and starting fresh was Leila's number one priority. She desperately sought to avoid the people that constantly reminded her that she was worthless, but never had she thought she would meet someone who made her feel things that she thought she would never experience. . .
Extreme anger.
After the night that two lives were taken right before her eyes, one of her brother and the other of a little girl, nothing for her has been the same. Being neglected by her own parents and being shoved to the side by friends, falling into depression and self-harm had forced the once extrovert into a dark abyss who chose to finish college in silence.
However, after an unfortunate mishap on her first day of school, Leila is stuck sharing a dorm room with no other than Professor Kingston.
To Leila, Blake Kingston was nothing but a narcissistic, intellectual spoiled brat who sought to make her life a living hell. However, beneath the surface Blake was more than that, he was a damaged little boy who moved away to escape his troubled past. He never planned to meet a young, stubborn woman such as Leila Hart, who barged into his life with no warning.
He never planned to let her see right through his cold and distant facade. For Blake Kingston was the most caring and loving person anyone has met, and Leila Hart knows an empath when she sees one. Little did they know they were both two broken souls who not only needed healing from themselves but from one another.
Little did they know they were going to be ROOMMATES.
What happens when these two collide?
Fireworks and lethal wounds.
Tessa's love life is full of clichés. She fell for the boy next door, her brother's best friend, and her childhood crush. They all just happen to be the same guy- Levi Daniels. Tessa and Levi seem to be stuck in an endless loop of right person, wrong time scenarios where one of them is single when the other isn't.
One summer, that finally changes. Both Tessa and Levi are single, and the spark that's always been there seems to burn brighter than ever before as the two join their friends for another summer of fun at their coveted lake house. Things couldn't be better. Their star-crossed love seems to finally be morphing into a fairy tale, but is one night really all it takes for them to find their happily ever after?
You know what they say... If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
~
Levi did the one thing he wasn't supposed to do. He fell for his best friend's sister- someone he would never be free of if anything bad ever happened. There was something about Tessa Rhodes that kept him coming back. She was his kryptonite, and no matter how hard he tried, he could never quite bury his feelings for her.
Then came the summer that changed everything. Levi finally decided to let his inhibitions go. Even if it didn't work out, he had to see what would happen. He told Tessa everything, baring his feelings, and leaving the ball in her court. One night would change their relationship forever, and an infuriating discovery the next morning would threaten to ruin them for good.
~
What happened in the course of those few hours that took these lovebirds from happily ever after to heartbreak hotel?
Find out in The Summer Before.