"Miss me?" He asked from the doorway with a huge grin on his face.
"How could I not?" I screamed as I ran across the hardwood flooring, sliding into Leo's awaiting arms.
"Missed you too, Ace." Leo spoke looking down at me. I couldn't help it, I smiled so big that my face began to hurt. It hadn't even been that long.
Ryder cleared his throat in the background, calling for our attention. "Wanna introduce me?" He asked sternly.
"Who's this?" Leo asked with a laugh. "You replaced me so soon?"
"Never." I said, giving Leo a small kiss on the cheek. "You're my one and only."
"How sweet. Hope you keep it that way." Leo spoke, winking at me.
"Ryder meet Leo, my boyfriend. Leo, Ryder. My brother's best friend.
Alice Winsotn, a girl that was proclaimed dead has suddenly returned but, she's not the same. Her dark past looms over her everyday until it finally catches up with her and takes her down along with everyone around her.
Then, things always have to become more complicated. Insert Ryder, who's always putting on a cocky attitude with and undeniably hot smirk placed on his flawless face half of the time, Ryder Caldwell is known as the player of the school and without a doubt that's true. He will play with a girl's emotions for up to a week, sleep with them, then the next day throws them out for the next.
To add to all of the drama Ryder is Alice's older brother's best friend.
What he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?
Wrong.
There are no secrets that time does not reveal. -Jean Racine
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]]