Novels by Stella Friday

Jaxon’s POV I already knew something was coming.Hazel had called before everything went live, I didn’t have answers for her then. Not while I was already walking into practice and trying to make sense of what she was saying.After practice, Marcus walked over and slid his phone onto the bench beside me.It was the post on Hazels blog.Steroid use, aggression, violent behavior written carefully enough that it almost sounds reasonable until you realize what it’s actually saying. My grip on the phone tightened as I read through then my eyes jumped to the third paragraph, it is a detailed description of the injury that I have been hiding and playing through each game.I set the phone down on the bench.“Jaxon.” Marcus starts.“I’m fine“ I say, even though my voice comes out flat which makes him stop talking.I’m not fine, I can feel the locker room shift around me, conversations dropping the moment I look up, my teammates turning away when I catch their eyes.Three years in this room h

Hazel’s POV Three… Two… OneI hold my breath watching the numbers drain out like there was ever anything I could do to stop them.ZeroFor the second, nothing happens. The screen was just blank, for one ridiculous moment. I think maybe it failed. Maybe the system glitched. Maybe whoever did this made a mistake somewhere and it just… didn’t go through.Then the page refreshes on its own and I see the pop up text.‘Published’The word appears so quietly at the top of the post, small and clear, as if it means nothing like it isn’t the thing I have been dreading for the past hour. I read the title again, it's meaning sinking a new reality into me.‘The Truth behind the Ice Hounds’ CaptainI shifted my chair closer as I clicked on the post and this time it opened fully, every single word loading, without any of the freezing it had been blocking me before. Now that it is live, it doesn’t need to hide anymore.The post is worse than I imagined. My fingers vibrated on my mouse pad as I scro

Hazel’s POV“I didn’t write this,” I say, even though there’s no one there to hear me.I click on it and the page loads halfway and then stops.“Come on,” I press again. “Open.”Nothing changes.“Why isn’t this working?” I whisper, clicking again, harder this time like that will make a difference.I hit delete but nothing happens.“No, no, no,” I say quickly, trying again. “Delete, please.”Still nothing.There’s no error message, no confirmation, nothing at all.“Okay… okay, this isn’t funny,” I mutter, my fingers already moving faster. “It’s just lag. It has to be glitch.”I try again to open it fully, but it only shows a partial preview, all blurred out by the pop-up timer.If I can’t stop it… then I need to understand itI scroll down, trying to find anything that looks familiar, anything that feels like something I would write, but the tone is off even in the little I can see.“I tried again to edit, or delete it but this time the cursor froze completely but nothing worked.I swi

Hazel’s POVI knew something was wrong the second the draft came back.I had just deleted it. I watched every line disappear, closed the page, and refreshed to be sure. For a moment, everything looked normal.Then it returned exactly the way it had been before, as if I had never touched it.I sat still, staring at the screen, my fingers hovering above the keyboard. “This doesn’t make sense,” I muttered.I deleted it again, this time more carefully, paying attention to each step. When the page cleared, I refreshed immediately.It was gone.I let out a breath and leaned back slightly. “Okay,” I murmured. “It’s fine.”I exited the page, waited a few seconds, and opened it again.The draft was there, back the way it was, like it was re-uploaded My chest tightened. This was no longer something I could explain as a simple glitch. Systems do not behave like this, restoring deleted content without any request.I leaned closer to the screen, my eyes scanning the text again and froze.A line a

Jaxon’s POVThe room smells like antiseptic and something metallic. I’ve been staring at the same spot on the wall long enough for it to start getting on my nerves.“Again,” the therapist says, very calmly as if it was nothing.I tighten my grip on the resistance band and pull.The movement is smoother than it was last week, I can feel that much. My shoulder doesn’t fight me the same way, or lock up immediately but it’s not as easy as it should be. There’s still that drag, that split-second delay that shouldn’t be there.“Don’t rush it,” he adds.“I’m not,” I mutter.Even if I know that’s not really true. I’m pacing myself because I have no choice, not because I want to.He doesn’t argue with me, but I can feel him watching.That’s the part I hate the most. Everyone watching and deciding how close I am to something I should already be back doing.“Try lifting it higher this time,” he says.I do but halfway up, the strain kicks in, just sharp enough to stop me. I tried to push a little

Hazel’s POVWhen I got back to the dorm, I flipped open my laptop, while answering all of Sasha’s questions about the outing.The notification is still there, and for a second I just stare at it like it might change if I wait long enough.It doesn’t.I open my blog immediately, scrolling through everything faster than I should, maybe Jaxon was right and I am over thinking it. At first, nothing looks wrong. The posts are there, the layout is the same, everything exactly how I left it.“Okay…” I mutter under my breath.I tapped into one of my drafts, the one I was working on last night, and that’s when I noticed it. Just a line that looks slightly different.I frown. “I didn’t write that like this.”This isn’t a glitch. Someone is inside my account.I scroll again, slower this time. The spacing looks off. A sentence feels… not the same. Nothing was deleted, but it's just not where I remember putting it.I exit the draft and go to the main page, then pause.“My font…”I tap the footer, s