A Kiss on the Wrist

Phoenix Embry is a 17 year old girl who is caught in a world filled with hate and suffering. To the naked eye, her life may seem normal... even her closest friends are unaware of her dangerous situations at home. Although she smiles and tries to stay happy throughout the day... as the sun sets and the world turns dark and cold, Nix spends many nights huddled under her blankets, or hiding from her step father in her closet. Sometimes she can fight him off... some nights if he's too drunk she can even evade him... however, from time to time he catches her and rips the innocence from her body time after time. Things get even worse when he enlists his own son, Nate, to help him torture her.

Everett is a foreign exchange student from Ireland, he happens to live just down the street from her, and they even share classes together... however, in the three years that he's lived in her town they haven't spoken a word. Although they don't have a traditional relationship, Phoenix has grown quite an attachment to the friendly Irishman; for the past year and a half, she has been slipping letters into his locker... sharing her secrets with a complete stranger.

Over the past 8 months, she's taken to cutting and slicing her body in an attempt to numb the emotional pain. She keeps it well hidden until one day at school he almost catches her slipping a note into his locker. What will happen when he sees the angry marks on her skin? Will he connect the dots and figure out that she's the girl in his letters? Will Ev be willing to accept the horrors of her past... scars and all?

*Graphic Content* This story deals with self-harm, and will also include: violence, offensive language, drug use, and sexual content.