Simply There

Lyndi Oaken has had a tough life. Her mother is an alcoholic and barely even acknowledges her existence. He father left them when she was just a little girl. To make matters worse, her old brother is in the army, which is why she's stuck living with her mother. He promised her that when he's done serving that she can live with him because he doesn't like their mother too much either. Since her mom is always spending money on alcohol Lyndi doesn't even know if she'll be able to go to college. She's always gotten good marks so any chances she has of going to college is riding on whether or not she can get a scholarship.

Except she ended up having one horrible year of bad experiences. Which is why there's also a big secret she's hidden from everyone around her. Including her brother and mother. She feels incredibly bad about it, but it was just something she didn't want holding her back. Only one other person knows about it, her father. The one person she wanted to hate all her life. Now he knows one of her biggest secrets ever. One she plans on keeping a secret too. Coming back has made her brother turn back into the insanely overprotective and worried brother, even though he has enough to worry about as is being overseas.

Now she's back to living with her mother, after disappearing for a year. No one knows why she left but now she's back to being treated like shit by everyone. It's pretty unknown as to why everyone treats her like this because she's always tried to get along with them all. One of the boys at school is different though, Keenan Moore. He's a jock, like his older brother is Jake Moore. Jake has bullied her the most and is also the captain of the football team. No one knows about her little crush on Keenan because that would mean more teasing then there already is.

At school she's known as the emo girl. Her hair is naturally black but people just assume that she dyed it that color. I guess you can say she dresses like emo too. She doesn't ever hang out with anyone either. Lyndi always appears to be doing homework or is on her laptop. So that’s why some people also call her a geek. Although she hates it with a passion she has to go to counseling because she can't afford to get on the bad side of any teachers or the principal.

This year at school Lyndi notices that there is a new girl. She hopes that while people are praising her arrival that they will leave her alone, but she has no such luck. It's always the same people that are bullying and teasing her too. She had hoped that this year would be different but now she knows that it won't. Disappearing for a year tends to cause a lot of unwanted rumors to surface. That is until the new girl takes interest in her and stands up for her against the captain of the football team. Lyndi wonders if it's possible that her life can change even a teensy bit. But she won't let her hopes get too high. We all know what that could lead too. Disappointment on top of even more disappointment.

As a reaction to the unpredictable first day of school, it leads to a chain of events that Lyndi would rather avoid. It also brings back memories that she would prefer to leave in her past. This all causes her to open herself up and become more vulnerable to those around her that care for her more than she can imagine. Opening up is something she has stopped herself from doing in order to protect herself from getting hurt once again.

What happens when people from her past start coming back as well? Bringing back memories she'd much rather forget. How will she deal with all that on top of everything happening at school, and her family. It all seems like too much to handle.

This is the story of the hardships that one girl has to go through. Full of secrets, bullies, love, hate, alcohol and disappointment. Too much drama for one person to keep to themselves. Can one person make a difference or do you have to make the changes yourself? Lyndi will have to find out as time passes.