Easier (question mark?)

Will it get easier? When her mom marries Elias, a dude with two teenaged sons, 17 year old Tatum and her siblings must uproot their lives and move across America to Salinas, California to "build a better life" (as Elias puts it). Everyone is eager for some sort of fresh start, to bury their addictions, regrets, regressions, maybe even planting flowers above the grave. Tatum grips the old and the new in both fists, struggling to let go and sway with the pendulum.

Short excerpt:
"'Wanna do something like really cringey and dumb?' Tatum giggled and looked at him fully, her freckled cheeks rosy and dimpling as she gave him a shy smile. Reed stuttered, and she interrupted before he could form a legible sentence.
'Hold still,' she said, making eye contact with him as her mouth pressed against the bong.
He watched her thumb flick the lighter and the strands of blond hair escape her clip, tickling her face as she bent her head down. Fuck, he needed to get a grip. Reeds breath hitched as Tatum lifted her head back up, trying not to smile as she held the smoke in her mouth. Tatum needed to redeem herself from earlier, and she couldn't tell if this was stupid and cliche or if she was pretty enough for it not to matter. As she drifted towards Reed, she gently cupped his jaw in her hand and pulled him towards her until their lips were almost touching. She felt them brush together only for a moment, but that was enough for her body to erupt in tingles. Shit, this was supposed to just be like a funny little thing."

trigger warnings:
sexual content
recreational drug use
mental health issues
mentions of eating disorders (NO specific numbers such as calories, weight etc are ever mentioned nor is anything graphic)