I Am Not
Status: Complete, unpublished
Genre: YA contemporary with a *pinch* of magic
Inspiration: I can't even remember where the pieces for this story came from, but I know I adore books with a little bit of questionable magic in them. This is one of those rare gems that flowed out of me in a frenzy.
Wren Ford has come to hate life in this remote beach town up the coast of California. The fish entrees, the obsession with mermaids, and the omnipresent sound of the waves taunt her every waking hour. Doodling in pointillism, then burning said doodles, and working shifts at her family’s Creperie are how she erodes away until she can leave for the city – any city – and escape the whispers that drift in from the Pacific.
When Ty shows up, his parents taking over the vintage shop next door, he brings the city to her, pushing her to pursue different avenues with her art. Wren wants to hate him, hate that he loves the ocean and surfing and that he’s even fallen for the mermaid lore that graces the town’s salt-encrusted minds, but gradually, like a sharp piece of glass being smoothed by the grit and the water, Wren finds herself wearing down too.
Some days though, when her projects fail and she feels the weight of her past decisions, Wren reads Caleb’s letters, left in a green glass bottle in the window. Aching over the honest, raw love that he expresses, her shame flows in and out like the tide. His words pull her under, wave by wave…
Until it becomes too much to tread in.