"There's four rules, you hear me?" Isaiah spoke solemnly, for the first time I've ever seen or heard him. I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"Alright, on with it," I replied, crossing my arms with my eyes never leaving the glitching black mass behind him.
"Rule number one: You always stay on the path. I dunno, some pretty weird stuff happens outside of the path, and I ain't about to go and check it out."
"Rule two: Don't stay longer than a few hours. A person will start to forget things... important things... like my 10th birthday."
"Rule trés: Close the portals you open when you leave. Notice those... you called 'em 'glitches', right? Yeah, that's what happens if you don't close them. Sorry about that... I'm in a rush and I don't always close them like I should... yeah, the void will escape. That's why I don't open a bunch at the same time, because I-"
"The void?" I replied.
"Well," he chuckled shyly, "that's what I call it. Or the goop, the black mirror, space and time, the hole... why, you got a name for it?"
I stared long and hard into the blackness.
"Nothing in particular."
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]]