Heather Haggler, a young but comely fifteen year old faces extreme difficulties shortly after the death of her father. Surprisingly a bubbly and always happy 'fun spirited blonde haired' girl, as she used to be, is now a trouble-witted teen, who faces peer pressure. Heather has been very crestfallen ever since her dad died, and she grieves with it by smoking or drinking just to feel like weight is lifted off of her shoulders. She starts hanging out with the wrong people, and is fonded by a no-good troublesome junior, Michael Wean. She faces a horrible time avoiding him, realizing that another guy, Brandon Zeleski, the opposite of her friends, is the one she's in love with. She's a loner at school, because her friends skip it and hang out by an auto store. But as the story unfolds, things only get worse for her. Her best friend is turning against her, and she's starting to recieve horrible nightmares that are connected with her life and the death of her dad. She starts believing that her nightmares give out answers to her dad's death and her future, and she starts to distrust people. And although this seems nearly impossible, and becomes a long journey, Heather is challenged by her school shrink to change and show her mom and little sister that she can turn into her old self again, that is, if she's willing to cooperate with getting help to change, in the blink of an eye.
In which two ex-step-siblings reconnect after just about blowing up their family the first time around...
Three years ago, Maddie fell hard for Jacob Isaacs, the smartest boy in her school. The only problem was this: Her dad had quite literally gotten engaged to his mother. The two tried to dampen the flames of their burgeoning attraction for each other but not before they got caught and were the talk of the town for months.
After the fall out, Maddie moved away to try and start her life over and not be known as the girl who got caught doing it with her 'brother' at prom. She hasn't seen her family in ages and intends to keep things that way.
Jacob, on the other hand, has worked hard to accomplish everything he's ever dreamed of. He's stayed close to home, done exceptionally well at school, and is adored by just about everyone who meets him. There's only one problem: There's a Maddie-shaped hole where his heart used to be. But no matter how hard he tries to reach out and find her, he can't. She won't let him. He let her down and gave up on them when she needed him most. And she's not ready to forgive and forget.
But then Maddie's dad passes and she's forced to come home for his funeral. It should be a quick visit. She intends to make it one. But Jacob has other plans. He let his girl slip through his fingers once and he won't let that happen again. So now he has to convince her to give him one more chance. After all, they're not related to each other anymore.