LOGINElowen "First of all," I said, pointing a sharp finger at his chest, "do not talk about my 'it.' That is a warning." A smile tugged at the corner of Zephyr's lips. It was a genuine, tiny smile—as if he was quietly relieved to see my usual feisty attitude return. "And secondly," I added, holding my head high, "not all women dress up purely for the male gaze!" "But the women who flaunts around me do, Blondie," Zephyr countered, that infuriating, arrogant smirk creeping right back onto his handsome face. I raised a clenched fist at him, glaring. "You are pushing it, Knox." His smile broadened... Fucking asshole! "Okay, okay, enough!" Ivy interrupted, stepping between us with her hands up. "As much as I am utterly living for this back-and-forth banter..." She turned to Zephyr, pointing a dramatic finger at him. "Listen to me, hockey man. Let's get one thing strai
Elowen I know the sensible thing I should've done right now was to go home immediately after having that terrifying experience, but I couldn't. I had somewhere to be. Unfortunately, I'd called in Ivy to help me pick out an outfit for the party that would be holding in a days' time—and unfortunately too, Zephyr was coming with us. And now, I was standing right in the middle of a high-end costume boutique, acting like I hadn't just gone through one of the most confusing, panic-inducing events of my entire life less than an hour ago. "I have to say, this is the most unhinged plan I've ever heard in my life, and I am utterly obsessed with it!" Ivy declared loudly, holding up a glittery eye mask and pulling me straight out of my dark thoughts. I had just filled Ivy in on the whole fake-dating scheme between me and Zephyr. Surprisingly, Ivy had actually seen the twisted logic in it. Naturally, I had convenientl
ElowenThe frowns on their faces didn't make my nervousness get any better.I was completely surrounded by the choir students from earlier, and I must say, they were hands down the worst group of people I had ever been stuck with since I enrolled at Belmont Academy. None of them were helpful in anything. Everyone felt this constant, toxic need to be better than everyone else. They were always snobbish, hyper-critical, and judgmental, and I hated every single second of being in the same room as them.And right now, Mr. Jack was playing the pop demo I had spent all night painfully trying to write through the Bluetooth speaker. I had genuinely thought it was okay—at least for a beginner—but everyone’s faces here held a thing or two to say, and definitely not in a good way.The silence in the room was so heavy I was almost pushed to jump out of my seat, hit pause on the speaker, snatch my phone back, and go cry myself to sleep in my dorm room.Mr. Jack
Ivy "November second is really hot," I breathed, smoothing my fingers across the glossy page of the desk calendar sprawled between us on the duvet. The illustration for November second was downright scandalous. The woman was performing a total, arched backbend on the edge of the mattress, her spine curved like a bow while the guy hovered over her, thrusting straight into her from the front at a mind-melting angle. It looked intense, wild, and completely thrilling. "Can you even do a backbend?" Andrew asked, leaning over the page and adjusting his dark-rimmed glasses. I burst into a quick, breathless laugh, my eyes crinkling. "No, silly. I'm not doing the backbend—you're doing the backbend! I think that's going to make it hotter!" I smiled up at him with eager hope shining in my eyes, waiting for him to laugh along with me or pull me into his arms. He didn't reciprocate the
Zephyr I was loving this fake-dating thing so damn much. Seeing Elowen look so utterly, completely embarrassed this morning after my water bottle made all those dramatic, echoing noises down the auditorium steps was literally all I needed to know my day was gonna end up fine as hell. The flush on her cheeks, the way she tried to bury her face straight into my chest to hide—it was pure gold. We walked out of Prof. Hale’s class together, stepping into the bright sunlight of the open-air canteen area. The courtyard was already bustling with students grabbing lunch between classes. I stopped in my tracks and watched in disbelief as Elowen walked straight over to a trash can and dumped the entire cup of black coffee I had bought for her—with love, mind you—right into the bin. "You're a monster, you know that?" I said, catching up to her as she dusted off her hands. "That was four dollars of pure caffeine." Elowen turn
Elowen "Shhhhh!" the nerdy boy in front of us turned around again, his face red with intensity this time. "You shhhh!" Zephyr and I said in unison, rolling our eyes at the exact same time before turning back to each other. I let out a heavy sigh, shifting in my chair. I let my eyes wander across the rows to our left. "Cedric's here," I murmured softly, spotting him sitting three rows over. He was in another section, but if he turned his head even a little, he had a completely clear, unobstructed sight of us. Zephyr followed my gaze for a split second. "Didn't know he failed Prof. Hale's class, too. Glad to know I'm not the only one whose hockey eligibility is in jeopardy." "Yeah, yeah... you hate the guy, I get it," I muttered. "Do you think he saw us sitting together?" "Even if he didn't, he might be blind, but he definitely wouldn't be deaf," Zephyr said, leaning back into his chair. "He heard me loud and clear
Zephyr In spite of my best intentions to avoid adhering to my mother, here I was in her fucking car on our way to meeting my “new family.” “You could at least try not to look like a fucking criminal for one day.” My mother’s voice sliced through the car like broken glass. I kept my eyes on
Elowen"I don't do virgins, blondie." It had been nine solid months since that night, and yet the embarrassment still lingered heavily in my chest whenever I remembered the events that occurred. “I want to hold another party, in celebration of you getting into Whitmore College!” Isa shrieked thr
ElowenI didn’t even have the luxury to react before his hot mouth came down on mine. My eyes widened. How did things get to this point?In the next second, my back was pressed against the cold wall as his tall, muscular frame trapped me.I tried to push him away, but his grip on my neck tightened.
ElowenThe stupid thing was that I could still hear the annoying sound of his laughter five minutes later. In my head.I pushed through a crowd of dancing people and headed straight for the kitchen.My face was still burning. No. Burning wasn’t the right word. I was mortified. I grabbed the first







