Jesse learned early not to trust a soul, but what if he was her soulmate?

Senior year of high school should be about friendship, boyfriends, and graduation, but for seventeen-year-old Jesse Barnes it's about escaping the shame of life with an alcoholic mother.

Jesse's goals are clear: keep a roof over her head, avoid the revolving door of leering men her mother brings home, graduate from high school, and do everything possible to keep her home life secret. Friends, boyfriends: not an option. Who would understand?

Then perfect, popular Derek Aames sits with Jesse at lunch. How can she discourage him? How can she keep him from intruding on her life and discovering her secret? And most of all, how can she keep him out of her heart?

Will his persistence finally break down her walls, or just break her?