Description
"Because if I don't, I'll spend the rest of the night wishing I had" Seventeen-year-old Lena Burke knows how to look perfect on the outside, how to smile the right way, what to say and when. Her mother is a perfectionist, not a caregiver. Lena has never known the love and warmth of a mother or father, and she doesn't want to live this way anymore. She doesn't want to feel. All the guilt, the stress, and the pressure, so she numbs it. June 20th, 2002, was a total shit-show. Not only did Lena Burke expose her father for having an affair in front of the entire community at the Burke family's annual summer fest, but she also overdosed, slipping into a coma for two weeks. The whole neighborhood was there, and, as her mother keeps telling her, it brought shame on their family. Now, after two weeks in a coma and months in rehab, she's back, dressed in white silks, pretending it never happened. It's been a whole year, exactly one year. And at this year's summer fest, her mother wants no mistakes; it's their time to make up for last year. Lena knows she's going to fuck up. She's going to find a bottle, and everything will blur again. But this time, someone stops her. Michael Keane. Seventeen, responsible beyond his years, used to taking care of his younger siblings and keeping his family together. His life isn't as privileged as the Burkes', but he knows pain and struggle all too well. He's heard the whispers about last year's summer fest scandal-rich people love to gossip-but Michael despises how they judge from the sidelines without offering help. When he sees Lena on the edge, about to break, he doesn't hesitate to step in. Lena doesn't know any other way to handle her feelings but to numb them, and facing them feels like a battle she's never prepared for. But when she's with Michael, the walls start to crack, and for the first time, she feels everything all at once. But sometimes, the hardest thing isn't falling apart, it's learning to let someone catch you.
Characters
