Remember your first day of highschool. Were you nervous, anxious, excited, scared out of your mind? I probably was.
I was probably nervous, not knowing where my classes, locker, etc where going to be. Nervous because I didnt know people in my classes. I was anxious to be an "adult", out on my own (somewhat). I was excited for all that was to come in my formulative years.
High school makes you. It defines who you are, in some ways. It gives you a chance to form who you want to be, to find out who you are. High school is the one time in your life where you will have the most drama you could ever want, the most emotion filled years. After leaving high school, you wonder how you dealt with everything that you did. It takes a strong willed person to survive high school.
That is why my story takes place in high school. All these events that would seem way dramatic in any other time period make perfect sense when placed in high school. All the dramatic events that shape the way you make your decisions happen in high school. Nothing is too emotional or dramatic for high school.
Placing Taylor, Nolan, Christina and Abigail in high school not only made sense because of their relationship, but also because of their character development. High school is a great time to test relationships, boundaries, experiment, stir up trouble, have heartbreak and to dig deep to explore what really makes you, you.
Even for those characters who think they know who they are, will change. We see Noah Hart, a junior and QB of the football team, Mr. Popular, fall so head over heels for Taylor that even he changes. We see him show his emotion to the max, both up and down. We see a man, confident in his place in the "world" (that is, the high school reality) crumble into a pathetic shell of who he used to be.
We see Nolan, trying to find out where he fits in, hop back and forth. Nolan wants to stay true to his real friends (Taylor and Christina, also Abigail when she joins in, though not as much), but he also wants to be accepted in high school on his own terms. He doesnt let one 'clique' define him. Bouncing from football to Taylor to the 'little people', we see Nolan really blossom in high school, until he finds his one place and sticks with it.
Taylor is the drama filled one. Her drama may be minor compared to reality, but in high school, the littlest thing is major, life changing events. We find Taylor go from a clumsy little freshman, scared of where her place in the heirarchy is, to the girlfriend of the most popular guy in school. She becomes hated by many jealous girls. She trys to lay low, a rare feat in the high school universe. She doesnt know where she fits in besides her tight group of friends, as she never joins any after school activity (a decision that will ultimately keep her lonely at times). Her decisions during her 4 years will be hard, and she makes mistakes. All of her mistakes and decisions will shape her future.
Christina is the only one we see as settled from her first day. Her sharp wit and confident attitude keep her grounded in her life. Her love for acting is seen as she chooses theatre as he hobby, but not as a act that defines her. Christina likes to keep life interesting, never letting anything ultimately define her. She keeps everyone on her toes.
Abigail is the school nerd. The big glasses, hair in braids 24/7, always carrying around a book "just in case". She is everyones best friend because she'll tutor you without a second question. She plays peacemaker more often than she should have to, but she does it out of love. She tries with the boys, sometimes succeeds, sometimes fails.
High school defines you in some way, whether you want it to or not.
Join me in showing these characters that there is more to life than high school, but it is a necessary evil to go through. Find yourself in one of the characters, find your best friend, your boyfriend, your teachers and mothers in this novel. Share in their triumph and their pain, just as you had experienced yourself.
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