Morgan M Rylie

Self Inflicted Morgan M Rylie

To the world, seventeen-year-old Aurora appears to be like any other teenage girl seeking attention. Her short hair changes color as frequently as her mood. She doesn't bother to hide her tattoos or piercings from the judging world of high school. The only thing she hides is her scars. After losing her mother to breast cancer at the age of thirteen, Aurora is left to be raised solely by her workaholic father. She turns to cutting to deal with the constant emotional pain. Full of scars from her years of self-harm, Aurora shelters herself from the world and refuses to allow people to get to know the real Rory. The only people who know about her self-mutilation habits are her best friend Liam and her boyfriend Erik. Her relationship with Erik is as unhealthy as her cutting, but she justifies the cheating and abuse, thinking there has to be something she has done to deserve it. Barely into her senior year of high school, Aurora learns she is pregnant. Determined to make the relationship work despite the abuse and infidelity, Aurora and Erik decide to get married. Just before the wedding, Liam informs Aurora that he is being deployed, and before he leaves he delivers news that turns Aurora's world upside down. How long can Aurora continue to make excuses for Erik's behavior? At what point does his abuse become too much?