LOGIN104CHALLENGE AURORA"You said what?" I blink, leaning forward, the duvet sliding off my shoulders. "Your mom? The woman you just rudely hung up on... she's your mother?"Jayden doesn't answer right away. He stares at the dark screen of his phone like it’s a bomb that might detonate in his palm at any second. His jaw remains locked so hard that I can see the muscle ticking beneath his skin."She's so pretty," I murmur, as I search his closed-off expression. "Jayden, Celina looks so much like her. And... honestly, you do too. You have her eyes. That same kind shape."Jayden shakes his head, breathing hard. "She doesn't have kind eyes, Aurora.""Baby..." I reach out, gently setting my hand over his grip around his phone. "Don't be so stressed, okay? Talk to me. What just happened?"He runs his free hand draggingly down his face. "I don't... I just don't get it. She's calling me after we haven't spoken in years. Years, Aurora. Then she just calls like that? Pops her face onto my screen
103MOMMY ISSUESAURORA The silence that settles in the room after Jayden shuts the door behind him feels heavy. I sink back onto his pillows, the heavy duvet drawn up to my chin. My body aches with a deep, bone-weary exhaustion, but my mind is spinning at a hundred miles an hour. Every word Jayden just said... about lawyers, about Malia, about Greta... echoes in my head, making my throat tight.I reach over to the nightstand, my fingers searching until they wrap around my phone.The screen lights up, blindingly bright in the dim room. My stomach drops.Fifteen missed calls. Eight text messages. All from Mama.I stare at the caller ID, my chest heaving as a bitter mixture of rage, pain, and betrayal knots in my gut. I shake my head, letting out a breathy, humorless sigh. For a second, I consider tossing the phone across the room. But the screen lights up again right in my hand. Her contact photo flashes across the screen.My fingers tremble as I swipe the green icon and bring the ph
HOCKEY HOUSE AURORA "I'm not going back there, Jay. I hate it there. Malia doesn't even want me there. Jayden she said I'm nothing but a mistake." "You are not a mistake." "And Greta says she wants a relationship with her daughter but she's doing too much and saying too much. They are going to lock my mama up in jail because of what? Raising me? I don't know why she took their baby but then what's done is done..." My voice trails off and I blink, my attention focusing on Jayden. He's just quiet, staring at me. He's watching me vent without uttering a word. I like that he wants me to get whatever is in my head out, but I don't feel comfortable with his silence. I need opinions at this point in my life. I want someone to tell me what's wrong and what's right. And I don't think I can trust anyone apart from Jayden. "You're not saying anything." I blurt out. He shrugs. "What do you want me to say?" "I don't know. You could start by telling me if what I did was wrong or right
101KNIGHT IN SHINING AMOUR AURORA I look down at the steaming mug of ginger tea, watching the tiny swirls of steam rise into the morning air. I won't lie, the moment the warm scent hits my nose it does sooth the leftover nausea."Greta," I start, my voice quiet, barely louder than the rustle of the wind through the garden leaves. I take the tray from her hands, setting it down on the small patio table beside us. "I... I'm sorry about last night. For what I said about the food. I shouldn't have told you to trash it."Greta’s eyes softens instantly. "Oh, Aurora, sweetie, no. You don't ever have to apologize to me. Not for that, not for anything.""I'm just..." I swallow past the tight knot in my throat, wrapping my cold fingers around the warm mug. "I'm just so overwhelmed. Everything is moving so fast, and my head feels like it's going to split open.""I know, my darling," Greta says softly, reaching out as if to touch my arm, but catching herself and pulling her hand back to give m
AURORA I take a slow step back, my eyes still on her frame. "Greta?" I whisper. Her eyes flutter open instantly, as if she has been waiting for the lightest sound to wake her. She blinks up at me through sleepy, bloodshot eyes, disoriented for a fraction of a second before her gaze locks onto my face. "Aurora!" She scrambles up off the floor, wincing slightly as her knees pops. She smoothes down her cardigan, looking utterly mortified. "Oh, sweetie... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable.""What... what were you doing sleeping on the floor?" I ask, my hands clutched tightly at the sides of my dress. "Why aren't you in your room?"Greta offers a small, self-deprecating smile, her eyes searching mine. "I... I was terrified you'd wake up in the middle of the night and try to slip away. Or that you'd wake up sick, or scared, and feel like you were all alone in a stranger's house." She swallows hard, taking a half-step toward me before
099SLEEPING OUTSIDE AURORA Greta takes a step toward me, her hands still shaking, her eyes still desperate. "Sweetheart, please... she didn't mean that. She's just confused and overwhelmed...""And I'm not?" I scoff, shaking my head. Does it surprise me that her parents would condone this behavior? Not at all. "Aurora," Richard begins, stepping up beside his wife, his broad shoulders looking weighed down. "Listen to us. We didn't mean for tonight to turn into this..."I raise a hand, stopping them both in their tracks. The gesture is sharper than I intended, but I can't take another word."Don't," I rasp, my throat feeling like sandpaper. "Just... don't. I want to go to bed before my head actually explodes."Greta’s face falls, her glance shifting down to the covered covered tray resting on the side table. "But... what about the food? I made what I hoped you’d like. Soup, and..."I looked at the silver dome covering the plate, feeling a cold, hollow sensation in my chest. "I don't
005DATING 101AURORAI stare at my phone after the call ends, my reflection blurry through the tears still clinging to my lashes.Typical.Even from miles away, my mother still somehow manages to comfort me and bully me at the same time.A watery laugh escapes me before I wipe at my face again. Go
004BONDING?AURORAI can't believe how much things have changed in just one night. I don't want to think about Brian. I don't want to think about the kiss. I don't even want to think about anything.Because if I do, I'll lose it. And what better way to show a bunch of jocks that I'm vulnerable if
003HEARTBREAK HIGHJAYDENI hate days like this, man. Days where I attend all classes, show up to the gym for practice, pushing my body to its limits, and all I want to do is crash when I'm in my room, sinking into the mattress and disappear for a few hours. But then something morbid comes up and
001ROOMIE AURORA Her side of the room is a hot mess. My roommate I mean..Clothes are hanging halfway out of drawers and the bed looks like somebody wrestled a bear on it and lost.I stand frozen in the doorway of Dorm C, Room 214, one hand gripping the handle of my suitcase while the other clu







