Purple Flowers

There are only so many things seventeen-year-old Charlie Rhodes can handle. Dealing with her mother Anne is no longer one of them. All she wants to do is climb trees, play video games, and play backyard football with her childhood best friends.

But Anne has envisioned a different life for her daughter, whom she insists on calling by her full name. And being Charlotte is a package deal, one that comes complete with tennis at the country club and fancy benefit dinners. Then there's the small, yet undeniable fact that her mother avoids their neighbors, Deb Wells and her son Jack at all costs, which is a problem, because he and Charlie have been inseparable since they were four.

Ever since she was ten, Charlie had chalked it all up to one simple fact: Her mother was a bitch. Even before she understood the meaning of that word, she associated her mother with it. But now Charlie is starting to wonder if there's some underlying reason for her mother's personality, because as of late, Anne seems to hate everything and everyone a lot more than usual, including herself. And Charlie's Dad and older sister Mery are either oblivious or turning a blind eye. Charlie is betting it's the latter and is determined to find out why.

In the end, she learns there are just some secrets that never stay buried, no matter how deep the hole is.

"Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden." -Phaedrus