those left behind : the introduction

you know the characters. you love the characters. you've told me so many times yourself.

but you don't know the story.

not yet.

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Matthew North is trying desperately to be normal. to pretend that everything is okay. but it's not. his world is tumbling around in pieces around him, and all he can do is find himself at the bottom of the swimming pool, until the hurting stops.

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Linds Poloma is trying desperately to grow up without a father, without a sister who can be there for here, without much of a mother. she feels alone, lost, and abandoned. empty spaces scare her, but that's all she seems to find lately. all she can do is fill the emptiness with noise of her own making.

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Ayden Engle is trying desperately to find the grace to forgive. he doesn't want to, but that's what his parents have taught him to believe. but everyday he's reminded of what he lost, and nothing can take that pain away. all he can do is pray desperately for the strength to let go or explode.

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Shiloh North is trying desperately to find the balance between moving on and enveloping herself in grief. it hurts too much to breath some days, but she bears too much responsibility to admit that. all she can do is sit and wait, hoping for a miracle of some sort.

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Colt Trelawney is trying desperately to fill a blank space with something, anything. he can't wrap his mind around losing someone he thought he would always have. all he can do is fight--fight every bit of complacency and fear in his life, even if it resides deep within his best friend.

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Lee Poloma is trying desperately to understand how people can stand to let go--of anything, grief, pain, guilt, hate. she hides behind a mask of thunder and lightning, covering up the secret scars within her. all she can do is walk in the dark, trying to find her own way, no matter where it takes her.

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Jonathon North isn't trying at all.

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when a grief counseling support group draws these six teenagers together, nothing changes. the world doesn't stop spinning. the ones they love are still gone, some of them forever. but through this unlikely band of average misfits, they discover something great, something bigger than all of them. and when their darkest moments come, they have to choose--will they trust their new friends with the whole weight of the truth? or will they fall apart, alone once again?

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