THE FALL SEMESTER COMES TO A SHATTERING CONCLUSION. One of the freshman Five falls stone in love with a mysterious returning soldier now taking classes at the college. The initial rush of new love is overwhelming, and Monica Creed becomes completely consumed with this man, who seems so wise beyond his years. But is it all too much, too fast? The young veteran harbors a dark secret tied to his military service in Afghanistan. The scars on his body are nothing compared to the wounds to his heart. Can someone trained to feel nothing ever love again? These two desperate young lovers will try, to the exclusion of almost everything -- and everyone -- else. Monica's friends begin to worry that she has she isolated herself from them and their college life. This, as the two lovers hole up in the soldier's small apartment that has become his fortress against the world. But what is this wounded warrior still fighting against? Sooner or later Monica's competing worlds of her once-carefree college life and the cautious existence of her new love are bound to collide. The fallout threatens everyone. For Monica, the shattering outcome could change her life forever.