Tattooed Sleeves, Tearstained Cheeks

High School, the most exciting four years of a teenager's life, or so you hear from your parents, tabloids, or sometimes the occasional teacher. Whether you're labeled Jock, AV Nerd, Stereotypical Hottie, Rich Kid, Cheerleader, Outcast, Rebel, Loner, or Freak; everyone is going to struggle at some point in those four years. It's going to be the end of the world or at least feel like it is, it's going to challenge you and maybe even tear you apart inside, or it's going to have you feeling nothing at all. The difference is what makes us human. High school is already hard enough, knowing that you have to find out who you are and who you want to be in a matter of roughly seven hundred and twenty-eight days of your life. Throw in a deceased mother, a father who chose Jack Daniels over his family, and a fourteen-year-old brother, now you're in Maya Romans life.

Life isn't easy for Maya, she never thought it could be. After the loss of her mother, the innocence she once had inside seemed to vanish. At seventeen she was managing her mom's café and bakery, taking care of her brother Ethan, and struggling to still stay a teenager in the process. Now as a newly graduated senior she has more troubles to face. Not being able to attend college due to financial status, she decides to stay home and work so her brother can get through school. However, she isn't alone. Not in the slightest. Her mother's two best friends, Maeve and Laura, have been there since day one for Maya and Ethan. That is one thing that will remain constant in their lives.

However, when Arlo Quinn; a man with a dangerous ora, black ink littering his arms, piercing dark ocean blue eyes, and a mysterious suave attitude is stranded in a storm one night outside the café, Maya's mind cannot encompass the capacity of how her life is about to change.

But, in life when you are happy things seem to be easy for once. What could go wrong, right?