A Black Rose for the Grave

Book excerpt: After losing her brother when she was very young and having her family fall apart right in front of her eyes, Lisa Dewey has been through more than the average 17-year-old. After her parents' divorce, Lisa, her sister Caroline, and her mother move to Norman, Oklahoma, where Lisa meets Alexander Johnson, a boy who has seen the worst of life. Growing up with his grandmother, Alex has always been the victim of bullying, so severe that he even reached the point of ending his own life. He and Lisa become friends after he attempts to end his life for the second time. She becomes the person Alex turns to in times of need. There is a conundrum though; she has fallen for Alex, but he is never to know. Lisa has had one boyfriend, and that was during her freshman year of high school. Everything with Alex had been perfect until one day when Lisa is out with some of her girlfriends, she sees a familiar boy kissing a girl. Lisa had despised Alex's girlfriend, Sara, from the beginning. Since that day, Lisa has not been with anyone. English had always been one of Lisa's favorite subjects in school. She wrote an essay on Roman mythology that her teacher was very impressed with. Her teacher commends her writing style and thinks she would be the perfect candidate for a summer program in Rome. Later that the day, students are told that prom tickets are going on sale during lunchtime. Alex asks Lisa to go to prom after remembering a promise they had made back in freshman year. Lisa is now stuck in a dilemma: will she go to Rome or will she go to prom with Alex?