"Today's going to be okay, I can make it through. Today I wont have to pretend"
This is a lie Raven tells herself everyday as she gets herself ready for school, its the only way she knows how to 'live'. She has the life people want, people need; loving and well off family, she is 'the top cheerleader' at school ( she gets all the privileges, hot boyfriend, circle of admirers... you get the picture). She has been pretending for a very, very long time, so much so that she has forgotten who she really is.
Enter Sebastian, the new transfer student.
He believes living is very unnecessary, "where is the point if your going to die anyway", right? Because of this he instantly gets labelled as; goth, emo, freak, etc.
Who knew he would be the first one to see through Ravens' lies? To finally see the real Raven rather than just what she pretends to be. But what happens when she pushes him away because she is scared, so scared that her mask will break and shatter, scared that she won't know who she really is?
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]]