Lylah Gray.
The girl who vanished in the flames.
~~~
Years have unfurled since that fateful night that took her family; a housefire infamous for its ruin of the Grays.
Supposedly.
Because, unknowing to the watching eyes of her small hometown, someone was spared. Beneath the ashes, Lylah Gray hides in plain sight, a silent observer, a ghost among the living.
Her town believes it was a tragic accident, a mere twist of fate - a faulty pipe, a candle's treacherous flame.
Lylah knows better.
Now, she has returned from her self-imposed exile with a new mission and, simultaneously, her greatest challenge: uncover the truth while guarding her real identity, especially from a girl she once knew.
A girl now bearing scars as deep as her own. Aurelia Hathaway.
As Lylah delves into the secrets of that haunting night, the line between the past and present blurs, and the walls around her heart begin to crumble.
The truth has always danced just beyond her reach. And now she must catch it before it is gone forever.
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]]