This story following the struggles of sixteen-year old October, living in the shadow of her missing mother and in the iron grip of her abusive, sexually-violating step-father. Whilst trying to stop her happy-go-lucky best friend from finding out about her hard life, Toby also has to defend herself from her own personality; her saviour could become her new captor, or her captor her new saviour. It's all up to the person Toby sees looking back at her in the mirror. How will she cope with fleeing domestic abuse?
Reviews:
"WOW!! I don’t think I have read anything more emotionally powerful (on this site) then this story. Readers can’t really relate when a story is about vampires or other mystical creatures, but you can when a story has a real basis behind it. Even a powerful one, such as this story does. When the main character was scared, I found my nerves strung tight. When she was sad, I wanted to cry. That is the mark of one genuinely good author. This story was written so well, I felt like I was reading one of the many novels I own that have already been edited and published. I hardly ever make comments on the actual story pages, but I found myself wanting to be one of the many people saying… “Upload, Upload, Upload” Well Done! *****" - GIGS782, five stars
Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option.
*****
Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her...
Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault.
[[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]