Mackenna La Rue, with her thick-framed glasses and extensive guitar-playing talent, is your quintessential thirteen-year-old good girl. Her average is impeccable, and all the teachers are suckers for her calm demeanour and shy-but-sweet smile. She's not very quick to let people in, thus explaining her small circle of friends, but cherishes the ones she loves deeply. On the outside, She's easygoing, positive, and a paragon of a valedictorian. Well, she hides her anger pretty well. Or, so she did. Because after Mahogany Valley's graduating class sets forth on a trip to a pristine beach escape, Mackenna is faced with a series of imminent, intense, and serious situations. Will she unravel like a spool of cheap thread, or emerge the face of Mahogany Valley's 2015-2016 graduating class?
**This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.**
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]]