The Cutting Room Floor

DEZ: If my life were a movie, this would be the pivotal scene: a guy peering through his bedroom window at a beautiful girl. I’m the guy, seventeen, somewhat troubled, watching the girl sit on her porch step, crying. The camera closes in on the guy’s face, tighter and tighter. He smiles, but it’s not sweet. It’s…odd. The kind of smile that gives the viewer that prickly feeling deep in their gut. 

Yeah, I do this a lot—watch my life through the eyes of a director. Maybe because I want to be that one person in charge. I wish I didn’t crave control. But I do . . . badly. And though I might not be able to control Riley, I can help get her to where she needs to be. Convince. Persuade. Protect. I’ll make Riley love me, even if it means I have to play the villain.

RILEY: I won’t let this destroy me. I’ll just keep my head up, ears closed, and try not to look at their faces at school tomorrow. I should be used to it by now. This is just how it goes around here. One wrong move, one bad rumor, one mistake, and it’s social death row. I’m the latest to be sentenced. Move out of the way, everyone. 

Dead girl walking. 

Thank God I have Dez. Sometimes I feel like he’s the only person who understands…

Topics: mystery, thriller, psychological thriller, page-turner, suspense, addictive, dark romance, angsty, stalker, new adult, lgbtq, college romance, forbidden romance, best friend romance, Dawn Klehr, forbidden love, romantic suspense, forbidden, standalone, page-turner, twist, unexpected ending, riveting, twisty, creepy, scary, stalker romance, dark, suspenseful, film, filmmaker, film nerds, domestic thriller, film noir, domestic noir.