What do you get when you mix an angry, closeted bisexual boy and a dense/ angry, closeted gay boy? A disaster. You get a beautiful disaster.
"Aspen has pissed me off since middle school. Seriously! The guy's tall, handsome, strong, and has shiny hair and sparkly eyes, and he's completely chill about it. Like, this man, this very handsome man, is also smart? Guys like me can only dream of being one of those. And he's both!"
"...have you considered: you may be in love with him."
"What? No, why would I be in love with that jackass? I just think he's too attractive for his own good, super smart and witty, well-rounded in terms of his skills, and kind of annoying but that just adds to his charm, really... wait-"
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]]