Aurora Grace White has never known anything else but music. She spends her days in her room playing her violin for hours on end. From compositions by Beethoven to her own. She knows it's her calling and what she's meant to do. But when she goes away to college, she realizes that music won't take her very far in life except to the nearest open mic night at the local bar. She struggles to continue her passion in music, or to put away her violin in the closet forever.
Dean Oliver Norris just graduated with a degree in instrumental performing arts for cello, piano, and guitar. He found himself after only four years of school, at 21, as the assistant teacher to the music professor by his local university. He's very confident in his music, like most of the kids in his first ever music class. But when he sees Aurora who sits towards the back, who's very quiet and humble in her music, he can't help but notice why because she's the best he's ever seen.
Dean helps Aurora try to find her calling in music, and helps her find how deep her talent is. But the more time he spends with her, the more he falls in love with her. Aurora struggles to let Dean inside her head, inside of her music, because the last time she let someone see the true her, they humiliated her in front of them. Ever since, she's never let anyone else in. But she has feelings, deep feelings, for Dean, and she can't hide them.
As Aurora and Dean fall in love, they both discover that their passionate love for music makes them one whenever they play together and it makes them better. But trouble arises as they struggle to be together because she is a student, and he's a teacher. He has a job he loves, and could risk it all by being with Aurora. He refuses to let her go, but now he has to figure out to if he should keep the job he loves or play music with the girl he loves.
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]]