Ecstasy

Tyson Shelley is a typical teenager: parties, girls, passionate about his garage band. Except he may have taken it too far. Whenever there's a party he's the first one with a drink in his hand, which would be all right, if he weren't popping pills as well. What led him to be this way? Perhaps it was his broken childhood, disturbed and interrupted by bouts of violence and loss. His missing mother, or his alcoholic father? Whatever it was, it's left him lost and without a purpose beyond getting trashed every Friday and Saturday night.

Calla Stevenson however seems the exact opposite. The new girl in town with an average nuclear family and a little sister to be a role model for. She's never had the chance to act out, with the only truly obvious thing setting her apart is her taller than average height and her penchant for retro clothing. But then you look closer. The hairline cracks that have spread their way across her family have widened, and with her parents separating she blames herself for their unhappiness. In a new town, they were meant to start anew. But the change of scenery brings with it its own set of anxieties: a new school, new friends and the persistent daily struggle of dyslexia.

Murwillumbah seems a sleepy enough town when Calla and her family moves in. But once she meets Tyson everything changes. She learns less about the cocky, guitar playing James Dean Rebel, and more about the gentle soul he is intent on destroying.

Ecstasy is about opposites, and is told by two narrators. It reminds us that everyone has their own path but we can all walk in each other's shoes.

Warning: this story may contain frequent use of strong language, sexual scenes, and STRONG drug use.