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Reprieve

Author: Lunar Dawn
last update Last Updated: 2025-04-16 02:04:47
Given the morning so far, I welcomed the carefree, albeit slightly immature antics of the freshman and sophomore students that I seemed to be sharing my Health and Wellness class with. It was as if they didn’t have a care in the world. In some ways, I guess they didn’t. Not on the scale that a senior would and definitely not on the scale of my burdens and responsibilities.

Watching them push and shove and play silly pranks on one another, I realized I had missed something by not attending high school all four years and by taking on adult responsibilities at such a young age. I missed the opportunity to be a child, to just live in the moment and know that someone else would take care of things and look out for me.

Part of me knew this was missing all along and that’s the greatest reason I push so hard for Nate to have a normal childhood. I want him to know that he can fall and I will be there to pick him up. He can make mistakes and take chances and he never has to worry if I will be th
Lunar Dawn

Aurora has been found in her hiding spot but who do you think found her?

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Truce Attempt

    “It was, actually.” I answered truthfully as I looked up into the eyes of Owen Marshall and watched him smile, happy with my answer. “I had just figured out in my head how to get through the rest of the day without being around you and I was foolishly smiling in triumph. Now, you’ve just ruined all of my plans and I’m back to the drawing board again!”His face fell and I felt bad for a second before I remembered the terrible things he had said. He stood there holding a wrapped sandwich and fries in one hand and his fountain drink in the other. He let out a deep sigh as he shook his head.“Can I sit here beside you?”“You can sit wherever you want, Owen. This is a free country. But I can’t guarantee you I will stay sitting here if you do.”I knew I was being a brat but for once, I was enjoying it. Was this a product of being pushed a little too far? Was this me just being totally honest with someone without any worries of the repercussions?“Fair enough.” He answered as he sat down. I m

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Emotions Are as Complicated as Algebra

    Sitting in the back, mixed in with a class of sophomores and juniors, I spent most of the entire class processing. His words, his touch. That bold statement that he wasn’t going to give up until he got to know me. My overwhelming need for him to be trustworthy. The worst thing about trusting someone, especially with your heart is that is also the same person that could destroy it if they chose to.Could I trust Owen Marshall or was this a game, a quest he was on? I set out this year to take risks, to live my life beyond just the four walls of the little white-sided house we live in. This was what I essentially signed up for. Take the leap of faith, the dive off into the deep end, the free fall from the airplane. Risking my heart and falling in love felt all the same to me.Anyone I had ever loved had left me at one point or another. Even Nate would find the day that he no longer chose me first and he would leave. I had survived all of that so surely I could survive if this thing with O

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Distraction

    I shook my head. “No, sir. I won’t care a bit. I just don’t know if something will be important or not.”He brushed it off with a lighthearted chuckle. “You can ask these knuckleheads in here. They should know if I need to keep something or not. Put them to work, too. Get up and do what she tells you, all three of you.” He said that as he walked past me and out of the office to start the class.As soon as he was out of earshot, Gary stepped over in my personal space as I saw Owen tense up. “What should we do first, BOSS?”I wasn’t about to let him get to me so I looked him right in the eye as I answered.“Well, FIRST. Grab that banker’s box on top of the filing cabinet there and pick up all the papers out of the floor and put them in there. We can go over them and decide if it needs kept or not once we have everything else organized. I will start with organizing the desk.”I strolled carefully through the papers, careful to not slip and sat down in the same chair Mr. Lawrence had just

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Is It Even Worth It?

    I made it to the bathroom between the gym and the cafeteria without anyone seeing me. I was thankful it was empty, too. I found a stall and ducked inside, shutting the door behind me. The tears continued as my whole body was wracked with sobs, finally letting go of all of the hurt I had held in all day.I usually wasn’t this emotional. The timing of my upcoming cycle, the emotional upheaval of the last few weeks and the exhausting emotional roller coaster I had been on today just created this perfect storm where I already knew I was on the verge of a breakdown. Danny yelling at me had just been the straw that broke the camel’s back.I couldn’t even blame Gary for this one. I had actually felt better once I got everything off of my chest with him and he had asked to start over. He had even kept me from falling when I slipped. If this one was on anyone, the blame needed to fall on Owen.Owen’s outburst had surprised me in the moment but even that was typical knowing that Owen had alread

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Explanation

    Danny shook his head with a scoff. “You might have a point there. Gossip is the fuel that heats this place. You’re on her good side right now so we wouldn’t want to do anything to change that.”“I’m on her good side? She has been nothing but nasty to me!”“That’s just how she is until you get to know her. Vanessa has a fierce loyalty to her that is hard to penetrate and she protects her circle like a lioness. But she hasn’t called you a bitch and hasn’t told me that she hates you so yeah, you are on her good side.” He answered as Courtney nodded a confirmation.“I guess I will have to take your word for it.” I answered without looking back at him. I kept my head down, just staring at my shoes.“Listen,” Danny started. “I owe you an apology and I do apologize for yelling at you like that. It was uncalled for but it was as much for your safety as it was to get you out of there so we could get both of them to calm down.”I turned slightly to look up at him. “You called me a distraction. W

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Not a New Shiny Toy

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Break Time Confessions

    Danny took his cell phone out of his pocket, held up his finger to let me know he heard me but needed a minute and sent a text before he put it back and looked back at me with a smile. That smile that said he was smitten so I didn’t even have to guess the recipient of that text.“Bell is getting ready to ring. Just sent my girl a text to let her know where we are. She’ll be up here with Bethany in just a couple minutes.”My heart thumped hard in my chest and I was nervous again. That girl was intimidating! Even though I now had a little better understanding of Vanessa, I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to see her but what choice did I have?“To answer your question, I can’t speak for how he sees you or how he feels about you but yes, you can trust Owen. He’s a solid guy and honestly, I’ve never really seen him give many girls the time of day. Trust me, being a football player around here is like being royalty so being the quarterback is like being a king. Owen’s past and all those detai

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Have That Conversation Soon

    “Phil is my legal guardian. He did it so I wouldn’t end up in foster care and so I wouldn’t be separated from my little brother. I haven’t told Owen any of this either. I will once we actually get two minutes alone to actually talk but I would appreciate it if you all not tell him and let me on my terms. Guess I could say my first request to see if I can trust you all or not.”“Where’s your dad?” Bethany asked.“I don’t know. My mom had me while she was still in high school and would never tell anyone who he was. That’s the basic outline of my life. Orphan or might as well be. Phil took me in the night I called him to come and get Nate, my little brother. Phil had no clue how to take care of a kid and hadn’t spent any time with Nate. Again, long story. I stayed home the last three years taking care of my baby brother. I have taken care of him since the day he was born. He started Preschool and I started my Senior year.”“You’ve been like a mom since you were fourteen years old?” Court

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Latest chapter

  • Whispers of the Heart   Every Kid's Dream

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Dinner and a Tour

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Talk with Sherry

    “What did you need to talk to me about, Aurora?”“I had wanted to ask about how things were going with you and Phil but seeing how sad you look, I am now more worried about you and making sure you are okay.”She sighed. “I am, I guess. This is actually about him. I thought we hit if off and were gonna start talking, start dating even but he has completely ghosted me, Aurora. Now, I am left feeling like this cheap, one night stand.” She covered her face with her hands. “Plus, I am a professional here, an adult and I should not even be discussing things like this with you.”“Hey, I asked.” I assured her. “I only asked because I care and I wanted to know how things were going. I never imagined he hadn’t reached back out to you yet but now that I think about everything that is going on, I just realized that I have been so caught up in my own little world with Owen that you probably have no idea of anything going on.”“What do you mean? What is going on? I don’t know anything except I was

  • Whispers of the Heart   Couple Adjustment

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  • Whispers of the Heart   Sweet Addiction

    The first kiss left me in awe. The second took my breathe away and touched my soul. The third and all beyond that had me addicted. Addicted to this man, his touch, his kiss, his lips, his tongue. Dear Lord, the way he could kiss me left me just dizzy with desire, craving something more. More of him, more of his touch, more of everything.After the second kiss, he had pulled me onto his lap to straddle him and although I knew nothing of what I was doing, my body seemed to. Natural instinct kicked in as the primal urges and desires I felt took over my body, moving my hips in ways that felt good, felt right, felt necessary.Owens hands had started on my face, working their way down my body to my hips and then under my shirt. He first gripped the bare skin of my hips but as my hips started moving, so did his hands until he was running his thumbs over the outside lining of my bra, causing an explosion of electricity as he brushed the hardened buds rubbing against the soft cotton of the und

  • Whispers of the Heart   Morning Confessions

    I opened the door and walked out, leaving it partially open again. I rapped lightly on Owen’s door as I skipped up to it and waited just a few seconds before opening it slightly. He answered for me to come on in, so I did.He was sitting at the L-shaped desk already dressed in t-shirt and jeans and it looked like he had been working on homework. He turned to look as I walked in and he quickly stood up, walking toward me to greet me in his bare feet.“You look amazing this morning, Aurora.” He said as his eyes raked up and down my body, his gaze lingering hungrily on my long legs in these black shorts. “Damn!” He said with an appreciative sigh.“You like my outfit, then?”“Yes, very much. I never imagined someone could look so casual and comfortable and still so sexy and mouthwatering at the same time but you have managed to pull it off.”“Thank you, I think.”He gave me that devilish smirk that heated my cheeks as well as sent a flush through the rest of my body. “Trust me, it was a c

  • Whispers of the Heart   Make the Best of It

    I glanced at the time on my cell phone again. It was now four in the morning and I had a choice to make. Lay back down for the next two hours and toss and turn where my mind was now on overdrive or make the best of the extra time I now had. It would be hard to pass the time unless I kept myself busy. Right now, I wanted nothing more than to wake Owen up and tell him everything that had been said in that conversation but I wasn’t about to risk both of us being dead tired tonight when Nate was barreling full steam ahead.I was thinking about what I could do to pass the time when I realized with everything that had happened last night, I hadn’t even touched my homework and I had assignments to complete in almost every class. So much for free time but I could at least be thankful that I now had time to get it all finished so I was not showing up to class unprepared.But before I started that, I wanted to get my shower and soak up the heat and steam. This morning, I needed the shower to wa

  • Whispers of the Heart   Phone Cohones

    My phone blared in the dead of the night, causing me to scramble from the bed as I hurried to answer it quickly so as not to wake Nate. Owen was no longer in the bed, having went back to his room as soon as I fell asleep, I would assume. Grabbing it up, I hit silence giving a brief glimpse back at the bed to make sure Nate hadn’t woken up as I rushed into the bathroom and shut the door behind me. Even before I looked at the display, I already knew who this was and what conversation was getting ready to happen. I just needed confirmation of the time it was occurring. Three forty-six in the morning. It took him that long to wake up and come around enough to miss us in the house.“Hello.” I hissed in a loud whisper as I hit the accept call button and brought the phone to my ear.“Aurora! Where the hell are you and where is my son?” His voice was strained so I knew he was angry but that it was causing him too much pain if he tried to raise his voice or get himself too worked up. That coul

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