Wake up, take a pill to smile. Sit down, take a pill to eat. Leave the house, take a pill to focus. Come home, take a pill to sleep. Lie down, take a pill to wake up. Repeat. That was the daily routine for Nellie Lamont prior to meeting him. After working with him for only a single week she felt like she never needed another pill again. She learned to wake up to see him, smile at him, focus on him, and sleep beside him. Medication had become obsolete, and he took its place.
And then he was gone.
It happened quickly, not just him leaving, but everything. Everything about him. Everything from the first time she saw him to the last. The first time she saw him, she hated him, and the last... she needed him more than oxygen.
---
17 year old Nellie had met and fell for the man of her dreams - and nightmares - volunteering over the summer. She's young, naive, childish, and unfit in every way to be with a guy like Dillon... and yet something about him draws her in. Even as the ugliest side of him rears its head she finds it impossible to leave. How could she? They say it's best to try your luck with the devil you know, rather than the one you don't.
And Nellie was anything but lucky..
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]]