What you are about to read is a love story. Let me prepare you in advance, this story will not end the way that you expect. When we met, I was young and had never experienced real love. He was older and charismatic, I never stood a chance. He was sweet and funny, everyone loved and respected him. On the surface he was everything I could ever want and for a while, everything was like a dream. But like all dreams, it came to an end. Somewhere along the line something changed, something that to this day I still can't pinpoint. The names in this story don't matter, because this story could happen to anyone. It's messy and complicated, a whirlwind of beauty and pain that created something that had never existed, something that never will again. It's been many years, but it's time for this story, my story, to be heard.
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?
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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]]