This is Paris Delevine's daily routine:
• Wake up
• Try to get out of going to school
• Pose for the cameras
• Be awesome
• Go on a date with James
• Go to sleep
And so for Paris Delevine, life is good. The movie she stars in is world-wide famous, she's getting roles (large roles, mind you) on Broadway. More products are sold bearing her name in large type. There's even a few baby dolls made to replicate her.
But not all is as it seems. Beyond the audience's judging gaze, beyond the curtains, behind the scurrying stage crew that will never move fast enough, things can happen in the blink of an eye.
And no one would notice.
With the Oscars coming up, Paris is careless and free. A normal (depending on the meaning of the word normal) teenager living her life at the prime.
And, as she goes on a journey of hope, desperation, trial and error, she finds the true meaning of what it is to live.
❝Dennis?" I hissed, "Dennis?" The stage lights were flashing-he was supposed to be onstage-
"Dennis?"
I think it was at about that time I noticed the sound of ropes rubbing against one another, up in the rafters.
My head slowly turned.
Someone was untangling something 5 meters above me-I saw two glistening, panicked eyes and then only a shadow.
"Dennis?"
I heard the knot fall loose and something begin to creak.
"Dennis?"
A large crack was heard and as I watched, frozen, I could just make out the shape of a large object, falling slowly towards me.
"Dennis?" My chapped lips whispered.
There was no answer.❞
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WARNING:
The following material is not, I assure you, cliché in any way.
You have been warned.
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]]