Gavin Witt is the shy kid in the corner that no one notices-- until he grows a body, that is. Suddenly the years of working on the farm pay off, and he's completely, unexpectedly hot. He finds himself being roped into a life he never imagined-- a place on the track team, popular friends, dating one of the hottest girls in school. But Gavin is a farmer with a crazy family and a lot of baggage. As much as he wants to have a place in things, he doesn't see himself as the kind person who was meant for this life. He wonders how long he can handle it all.
Things get weirder when Rafa comes to work with them on the family farm. Gavin remembers this kid: Rafa is friends with notoriously gay James Aubrey, who is teased at school by the same crowd Gavin just became friends with. Despite himself, Gavin grows to like Rafa, and his new friend is even there when Gavin has his first panic attack, an incident that shakes Gavin to his core.
When Gavin's buddies set their targets on James and Rafa, Gavin must make a difficult choice between helping his new friend or remaining with the popular crowd. The choice he makes shatters his sense of self, and when his girlfriend Ashley leaves him after finding out one of his dysfunctional secrets, Gavin feels completely broken.
With the help of Rafa he picks up the pieces of himself-- but what's left in the mirror after he puts them together isn't exactly what he expected. He begins to imagine a life for himself where that's okay.
Then Ashley comes back to ask for forgiveness, yet again throwing Gavin's sense of self into question. He must make a difficult choice between a love he thought he'd lost and a love he never knew he wanted.
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]]