Books

Ten months ago Aria had everything. A full ride to a prestigious university, a shot at cross country captain, and a real chance at state championships. The kind of life that would finally make her mother proud. Then she punched someone in the face. Now she is back home in San Jose, working at Costco, sleeping down the hall from her little sister, eating dinner at a table where her mother has perfected the art of looking straight through her. She has become the girl from that video. Aggressive. Volatile. A cautionary tale. And no matter where she goes, the video follows, deciding who she is before she gets the chance to. When a coach from a small Northern California college calls with an offer she has absolutely no business turning down, Aria does what any reasonable person would do. She packs her car, drives two hours north, and does not tell her parents where she is going. The actual running is not the hard part. It is everything that used to make her run that does not work anymore. Every mile pulls her back to everything she is trying to outrun. But she needs to get this team to state, which means she needs to figure it out fast. And then there is Dante. The only other runner who stayed for the summer, because of course he is. Naturally gifted, annoyingly unbothered, cool and easy in the way that makes Aria want to scream. The kind of guy who glides while she is fighting for every step. Somehow also the only person who looks at her like he is waiting for the rest of the story instead of assuming he already knows it. She is not sure she is ready to tell it. Aria came to Woodland to earn back what she lost. What she finds instead is a future she never knew she was running toward.