Bone, Vol. 1: Out From Boneville

Being a teenager is no easy task, especially when you have an eating disorder in high school. Natalie Ashman is stressed to the bone and abuses herself every day. When she is stressed, she purges and spirals into oblivion. As time passes, Natalie faces a terrible trauma that causes her to lose her will to live. Will Natalie overcome this peril, or will she always be bone thin?

In Black Salt, love is a sickness you can’t hide—a slow gnawing beneath the skin that leaves you hollowed, grayed, and eventually gone. No one stays long enough to see it through; they leave before the rot finishes its work. It’s what the town teaches you: when it starts, you run. You look away. You survive by pretending not to feel. But Atlas is tired of pretending. The halls of Black Salt High are full of kids pretending they don’t see each other’s bruised hearts, pretending their bones aren’t already whispering warnings. Still, he can’t forget the weight of a father who stayed—not out of love, but because he never felt it deep enough to decay. That truth lingers in Atlas like a second shadow. And then there’s Nova—the outsider with a storm in her bones. And Wren, all sharpness and fight. Milo, who cracks jokes to keep the silence at bay. Luce, who wears her thorns like jewelry. Together, they don’t know how to stop the rot. But they’re learning how to sit with it, how to name it, how to refuse the small, hollow deaths of pretending not to care. In a town where love is a death sentence, staying might be the bravest thing of all.

Overpowered by the strong hands who grabbed her by the hair and pulled her along, dragging her into a dark room that recks of urine and cigarettes. Hurled her inside. His hands still gripping her hair and not doubt if he let go, some strands of hair would fall of. Undeniably, the pains were suffocating. When she stares at his dark eyes, the only thing she saw was darkness. “Let go, let go of me you bastard!” She spit out. That only made his mighty five fingers appear on her face. Which sent her head spinning on her neck. He made her kiss the earth. And slowly breathed in her face. “Your life ends here....” his voice was deep baritone and cruel and that was when she felt the shivers down her spine. How did the nerdy Elina find her way into the merciless billionaire’s court?

My boyfriend, Yves Steward, is the head of the orthopedic department. When Julia Henderson and I get into an accident at the same time, he pushes my hands away and shouts, "Stop this nonsense, Summer Simpson! Julia needs to be operated on immediately!" So, I'm the one who deserves to die. The day my skeleton is donated to the orthopedic department, Yves sits in his office for a day and night. Later, the man known as the hospital's genius orthopedist never holds a scalpel ever again.

".....one thing is clear to me now, Lind" he allowed the words sink in for effect. Cold beads of sweat broke out on her fore head. She was as confused as she was scared. Where was this fear coming from? Her lips were beginning to tremble, her hands shook like a leaf. Her pupils were visibly dilated. "You are two-faced Lind. Are you in or out?" he asked with a growl filling his dark and powerful voice. His hand was still like a vice gripping her slender neck. Melinda was beyond terrified, yet she couldn't explain why her lustful desire for him was etched deep in the pit of her stomach or her heart. She didn't know which exactly. She would find out the answer to her questions once she answered his.

When I was seventeen, someone stabbed me in the womb, leaving me unable to have children for the rest of my life. My husband promised he would love me forever. Still, after just five years of marriage, he cheated on me with the very person responsible for my injury. They even had a child together, and he wanted me to divorce him so she could replace me.