PREFACE: GIRL MEETS BREAKING POINT
Dear Diary,
I'm tired. I'm tired of the expectations I seemingly have to fulfill every day. I'm tired of trying to be a person I'm just not anymore. I can't see the world as sunshine and rainbows, because I'm not who I was back in middle school. I'm sick of watching Maya and Lucas be happy together, and I'm tired of everyone thinking Farkle and I should be together just because he seems to feel that way. My world, the world I thought I loved, is no longer as perfect as it once was. I'm sick of being the girl in the spotlight, but the moment I bring it up, I'm either ignored or "convinced" that this is who I'm meant to be.
But I'm not. I can't continue to go on like this.
I need help. Maya and Lucas are too wrapped up in each other to see the truth. Farkle is blinded by his feelings for me. Zay and Izzy aren't close enough for me to confide my true feelings to them. My parents are so busy saving the world that I get left behind in the dust.
It's time for me to grow up and move on, before I implode.
I need help. But is there anyone left?
Riley.
Riley Matthews can no longer live her life as the eternal optimist. All she wants is to experience life, make mistakes, get hurt, and become a better person because of it. She's been harbouring these feelings for months now. She's never felt so trapped in a life, in a role society has forced upon her. She wants to become the person she was always meant to be. And she hopes her Uncle Josh can help her with that.
He's the only one she can trust.
But can Josh help his niece without ruining her sunny outlook on life?
Will Riley's friends realize what an existential crisis she is having? If they do, will it be too late? Will the Riley they've always known have let them?
And, most important of all, can Riley find happiness again?
[Based on All We Ever Wanted by Hey Violet! (Song isn't actually out yet but I heard it on tour and it's amazing.)]