Drown

If you'd met my mother before she died, she would've told you I wasn't a normal child. She'd boast about my perfect grades, my endless trophies, and my unrelenting hatred for losing. Yes, losing. I'm terrible at it. I don't just want to win; I need to.

But life doesn't play fair. And right now, I'm losing everything that matters. My voice has been stolen, my family shattered, and my only mission is to protect my little brother from a world that keeps taking more than it gives.

Then there's Troy Parker. He's everything I despise: confident, glowing with that effortless charm, and impossible to ignore. His hypnotizing green eyes seem to see right through me, and no matter how hard I try to keep my distance, he's always there-too close, too bright, too much.

I swear to stay invisible, to keep my head down and my brother safe. But Troy does the unthinkable. He stands up for me. He forces the world to hear my voice, to see the girl I've buried beneath the pain. And as much as I try to push him away, he breaks through my walls, pulls me into his orbit, and suddenly, I'm no longer drowning in my sorrows-I'm drowning in him.

This is the story of a girl who thought she had nothing left to lose, a boy who refused to let her fade into the shadows, and a love that just might be worth risking it all.