She didn't pretend to be bad, because she wasn't. He didn't pretend to be innocent, because he wasn't. They weren't complete opposites, but they weren't similar.... and they both had a secret.
Avery Townsend is a 15 year-old girl with a penchant for the color blue. Her room is painted blue, her bed sheets are striped with turquoise and navy blue and robin's egg blue, and her lampshades are sky blue. Maybe it was because she was born in March, and her birth stone was an aquamarine. Or it might have something to do with an accident when she was seven...
Riley Barrett is a 16- year-old boy who has everything. A red Ferrari that 'makes the ladies swoon,' parents who are barely at home, letting him throw as many parties as he likes, title of captain of the basketball team...but not a heart. No one has ever known him to do something out of kindness. Yes, he would back up his friends in a fight- only so they would help him out in another one later. Not that he thought he needed help.
One crisp autumn day, the weekend after the first week of school, they happen to meet. Riley is unsettled by a feeling that he knows this girl... and he makes it his mission to find out who she is. He doesn't know it yet, but this becomes one of his most important decisions of his life, and not necessarily in a good way...
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]]