Me, Love, & Secrets

Copyright & more

© 2022 Xandria

This story has been long awaited and it's finally here! I am happy to present to you all the original storyline for the Lies series!!! 🎉But there is a bit you need to know about this book. It does have an ending, so you don't have to worry about it suddenly ending on a cliffhanger and having to wait for the next book. It's a miracle I even finished the book, considering that I start writing a book and never give it an ending. So...let's get to it!!

1.) CHARACTER NAMES: When I first started this book, the names came fast. I couldn't stop naming people and coming up with lots of background information about them. I'll give you the list of main character names that changed when I created the Lies series.

A.) Ruby --- Lexi             B.) Lucas --- Luca            C.) Roberto --- Asher          D.) Cindy --- Karli

E.) Sabrina -- Diane      F.) Martin --- Ryder         G.) Melinda --- Yasmine     H.) Renée --- Jen

I.) Joël --- Vincent    J.) Julia --- Karmen      K.) Tiana --- Natasha           L.) James --- Brad

2.) Relationship Statuses: I was very intrigued when I realized that many characters in the original storyline liked each other, but hated each other in the series. I had to laugh at myself for making the mistake of changing that, but it did me some good, because it caused more drama. Anyway, let me tell you who liked who and who hated who.

Ruby was having issues with her step-father (James), but her other step-father (Martin) ended up liking her. She ends up hating Roberto and loves Lucas instead and Samantha is still her best friend. She and her cousin, Renée, have a problem with each other, so they try to avoid each other. Ruby also loves her mother to death and became attached to Jordan when she realized James was her step-father. (You can tell all those relationships are different in the Lies series, but I can assure you that James's (Brad) attitude towards a lot of the characters stay the same. And so does Lucas's hatred towards Roberto and vice versa.)

3.) NO MAFIA: I didn't know about the mafia when I started writing, and I can say it was better not to know about it, because it shows up way too much in my other stories. You can thank my 15-year-old brain for that one. I can assure you there won't be any mention of a mafia in this book. Just regular people having regular people problems. No government issues. No gangs. No arranged marriages. I can assure you that no one will be fighting to take over some mafia throne.

4.) Middle-class family: No billionaires. No millionaires. Ruby's family is a regular middle-class family. As much as I am obsessed with my characters being rich, my 15-year-old mind didn't think about money due to the fact that my family was high middle-class. No one complains about being broke and Ruby had everything she needed when she needed it. With her family closing her off from the secrets they're hiding, she has no reason to believe they won't be there for her in the future. Although her step-father owns some type of business, it didn't take off like he hoped. (Attention: Ruby's cousins are rich due to the family business being left to their father.)

5.) Too many secrets and abuse: Again, Ruby's parents didn't like sharing a lot of information with her. They feared that the moment she realized the truth about them, she'd run away or hold a grudge against them. Even though she figured out a lot on her own, her knowing some things never prepared her for the news her mother told her one night. And her step-father...that man is another story. Growing up in a family where your dad abuses your mother or another member of your family doesn't give you the right or a valid excuse to beat on another person. But this man used every excuse in the book to make sure his family knew he wasn't the one to be played with.

6.) The cringe was real: Man, I will try my best to leave out all the cringy parts, but I think that's what makes up more than half of the storyline. I don't like my 15-year-old brain anymore lol. I wish it had been thinking about what it was really trying to say. I was a sucker for romance and I loved everything that dealt with weddings and extravagant parties. And when it comes to arguments, I didn't know how to make people argue. I argued with my family, but it's different when writing a story. I don't know how many times I've read the story and skipped over every part they argued or where it got too lovey dovey. Trust me when I say you're gonna want to skip those parts, too. (But I'm probably gonna write those parts over, so don't worry 😁)

7.) RACE: Some of my characters kind of changed races when the Lies series was made. For example: Lucas is Black now, but is White in the series. For the original make up in this storyline, Brad is White, then Black in the series. There aren't too many interracial relationships, because my 15-year-old self had the idea that tall, dark and handsome was forever the way to go. I hadn't yet figured out how adorable interracial couples were and I'm glad I know how adorable they are now. (Yes, upon figuring that out, all my exes were White). I think everyone else stayed the same.  Oh, Martin was Black, because I wanted him to treat Julia like a Black queen. I honestly don't even know where I got that from but...we're gonna roll with that. He's White in the series.

Now that that's out of they way, I hope you all enjoy the story. Like I said before, it's only one book, so don't be expecting a sequel or anything. This is just for fun, because I took too long to make something worth reading with The Beginning of Our Lies. I regret even trying to do something with that story and don't know why I didn't just edit this one and use it.

Anyway, enough talk. Enjoy this and be happy. Tell me what you think about this, because I don't know what to think. It's too cringy to read now that I'm having to look at the paper it's on for I don't know how long. 😅