I remember waking up in a dark room, looking over at the window, and seeing him looking at me, his messy hair, and a hoodie. All I was thinking is, "God he is so fucking perfect, how is he mine." He grabbed me by my hand and pulled me out of bed, me being the lazy person I am, only in a pair of underwear. He kissed my chest, and pulled his hoodie off and put it over me, and grabbed me a pair of sweats off of the floor. "What are we doing, Jack? It's 2 in the morning, you're fucking crazy. You know how much of a dick head Bill is. If he walks in here and I'm not here, he's gonna beat the shit out of me." Jack looked at me in the darkness and grabbed me by the chin. "Babe, if we were ever caught, I wouldn't want to be caught with anyone else but you." My chest dropped. He knew how to get to me. He hopped out the window and as I was getting out, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me out. As we jumped into his car, he looked at me with those deep brown eyes and said, "God, how have I gotten so lucky with you. I am truly blessed." We pulled away and I was staring out the window, when the song came on that always got to me, the song that made me realize I was in love with Jack. I looked over at the unaware boy, and I reached over and kissed him on his cheek. "Where we goin, daddy?" I asked him.
He looked over at me and grinned.
"We're about to move into the apartment I just bought for ourselves. I moved furniture into it already, I just desperately needed to live with the girl of my dreams."
My heart raced and a million thoughts ran through my head. He drove around and parked the car at a park.
"You've been the girl of my dreams, you're my high school sweetheart, and I don't want to spend my life with anyone else but you. From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew I was bound to become a hopeless romantic with you. I swear to the earth, sun, moon, and universe, one day I WILL make you my wife. That's the only way I want to spend my life."
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]