Looking back, a lot of my major life-altering decisions and events had taken place, whilst sitting on those lime green seats of a Melbourne tram.
The windows were usually open, and the sunlight had poured onto our faces, illuminating us, and the cold wind had played with our hair.
For the good part of my adolescence, I, like many other teenagers and twenty-somethings, was always confused and utterly bewildered - at the strange turns and corners that life took. I didn't know who I was, or who I wanted to be - I didn't know who to trust or who to stay clear of - but mostly, I was at a complete loss for words with regards to the matters of the heart. In short, I never knew who to love, and if by some miracle, I did love someone - how on earth could I possibly tell them?
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]]