Julie Page wasn't dumb. At least, not Before. In the Before, Julie was the one who kept the books for her family business, the one with good grades, the one with smart, overachieving friends. She was not the girl who fell prey to a multi-level marketing scheme, that was for sure. At least, not Before. But now, in the summer following high school graduation, Julie was living in the After. After her mother died. After she got dumped by Bryce the Great. After she locked eyes with Sheridan Highgate, the popular girl with a matching workout set and six jobs and nothing but joy in her empty, bright eyes. The girl swimming in the cotton candy pool of her ever-present water bottle. The girl Julie would never, ever be caught dead with. At least, not Before. When Sheridan takes Julie under her wing in the weirdest, saddest summer of her life, the world around her opens in a new way. A way that leads to parties filled with skinny girls with colorful "health" drinks, skeevy sales tactics, and a surprising darkness that forces Julie to face the deepest, most untouched parts of herself. In this darkly comedic young adult novel, Julie finds herself under the spell of the beautiful people -- the Diamond Girls -- and enchanted by the shattering of broken glass that makes up their mosaic. As she falls deeper into the chaotic and enigmatic world of "Diamondesq," a brand of questionable health drinks and their various accoutrements, Julie learns that no one is who they seem to be -- not Sheridan, not Bryce the Great, not her mother. Not even herself. [60K Words / Completed ]
30 parts