High school. The place where you can experience your first proper relationship, your first love, your first heartbreak. Ella Sivan, 17, experiences this, her first love being your typical hot high school jock who you'd also assume is a jerk. Yeah yeah, go on about the stereotypes but is it bad for saying who everyone sees him as? This jock is Alexander, or in short, Alex. Alexander Castillo, 18. Everyone sees him as the jerk of a jock that breaks every girls heart, when actually, he could be the exact opposite. Then we have Chris. Chris Hayes, 17. Chris is Ella's childhood best friend, who has had a small thing with Ella in the past. Now when feelings arise between these people, it gets messy and Ella has to make a decision. Go with the guy she knows she has more trust in as she's known him for so many years, or go with the jock and risk getting her heart broken. Could she become addicted to a memory and let that pull her away from the heart breaker or will she ignore that memory, and not let it affect her choice.
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]]