Novels by Joanna Shepherd

The first week of school had dragged on with the usual mix of classes, dramatic reunions, and Asteria’s growing anxiety about the secret she still hadn’t told Damian. The issue was that she barely got any alone time with him since school started. As a star player of the school’s football team and Blackwell Academy’s most eligible bachelor, Damian was rarely ever alone. It wasn’t the kind of conversation she wanted to have with other people around. And whenever he was, it wasn’t the time for that kind of conversation. By the time Friday rolled around, word had spread about a party being held to celebrate the end of the first week of school. Granted, it wasn’t something significant that was worth celebrating but they were teenagers, and they would take any chance they got to throw and/or attend a party. The party was going to be held at Christopher Neil’s house. Chris was the wide receiver for the Wolves, Blackwell Academy’s football team. And he was a pretty decent player until a sk

“First, I want to extend my thanks to your father for his generous assistance in the renovation of the robotics lab.” Principal Thompson started. “It’s not often that parents contribute to areas their wards aren’t directly involved in, but he was exceptionally generous. The new equipment will benefit the entire STEM program.” This was the first time Asteria had heard of any donations. And Principal Thompson was right: it was uncommon for parents to contribute to areas that their children weren’t involved in, and Asteria had never shown interest in the sciences. But with Alexander Goldburn, everything was about optics and business leverage. As one of the country’s leading tech gurus, his image would get a bit of a boost once people knew he’d made a hefty donation. Everything with him was calculated. Asteria hated it, and some days, she hated him too. Still, Asteria blinked at Principal Thompson. “I’ll be sure to mention it to him.” “Second, I’m sure you’re well aware of Damia

Asteria looked down to deliver the news, only to find that Damian was already fast asleep. She couldn’t find it in herself to be properly surprised. His breathing had deepened into the slow, even rhythm of someone who hadn’t slept properly in days. Jet lag, the hangover, and whatever other chaos he’d stirred up in England had finally caught up with him. Evidently, he needed all the sleep he could get. But while it was a good thing for him that he was asleep, it made things a bit more difficult for her. Damian was a heavy sleeper in every sense of the phrase. Waking him up was always a nightmare, and she’d always found it much easier to just let him sleep. And he was also incredibly heavy. She was stuck right there until he decided to wake up. There was also the matter of what she had to say to him. It had been with her for the most of the summer, and it wasn’t the kind of information she wanted to deliver via phone call or text. It needed to be in person. The only problem was th

Morning classes passed in a blur of syllabus reviews, icebreakers, and introduction to the new syllabi. Teachers welcomed the seniors with the usual mix of over-exaggerated excitement and warnings about college applications. Most of them droned on about how their senior year was pivotal and would “separate the ivies from the safeties”. Most of the students moved through the motions. The school was reeling with the energy from summer, and there was a mixture of excitement and anxiety as they realized that this would be their final year in high school. By lunch, the cafeteria buzzed with restless energy. And no one was more restless than Asteria. She hadn’t seen or heard from Damian all day, and from what she could gather, neither had anyone else in the school. Asteria had just grabbed a tray when the double doors at the far end of the cafeteria burst open with a roar. A motorcycle – sleek, black, and very clearly not meant to be inside a building – came revving straight into th

Asteria Goldburn realized her uniform didn’t fit when she couldn’t pull the zipper all the way up the morning of the first day of senior year. She stood in front of her full-length mirror, finger hooked around the stubborn metal tab at the back of her skirt, willing it to climb up and stay up so that she wouldn’t be any later than she was for school. Eventually, after a couple more minutes of twisting around and on the verge of bursting into tears, she was finally able to get the zip to stay where it belonged. That however, didn’t solve all of her problems. Every year, Blackwell Academy sent out measurement forms before the summer so that students could get new uniforms for the upcoming school year. And every year, Asteria had filled them out without much thought. She had mostly stayed the same size for as long as she could remember so it had all been a matter of copy-and-pasting her measurements. Except this summer, apparently, her body had finally decided to catch up. Puberty ha