The first accident destroyed my life, could the second help be the key to building a new one?

Taka is self-assured, smart, a born leader who could charm his way with anyone, especially when it comes to talking a girl into his bed. Shinji is a sweet guy with a ready smile whose blonde hair and blue eyes were so easy on the eyes.

Life-life friends, they are two playboys doing things most high schoolers never would and who normally be reviled for their lifestyles, yet they drew people in and were beloved in our school. Loved by people who didn’t really know them at all.

I’d believed the facades too, but that was before. Before I saw Taka crying in the rain, before I got a taste of his sardonic and acerbic tongue and his potty mouth. Before Shinji and I stood face to face and truly looked at each other, and saw that same soul-eating darkness mirrored in each other’s eyes.

By some miracle, these two guys let me see the real them, let me see the secret sides to themselves they carefully hide from the rest of the world. But such openness comes with a price. Do I dare trust them enough to do the same, to let them see my own dark secrets?

With them will I finally find the acceptance and forgiveness I’ve longed for or will giving myself over to these seemingly unscrupulous rogues shatter what’s left of my fragile heart?

Deviations is a contemporary upper young-adult romance that explores alternative relationships from a positive view.

Note: This story does include realistic portrayals of abuse and mental health issues, strong language, and sexual situations.

Sherelle Winters