Cerita Pendek & Novel Secret Love Campus

On the day of our graduation photo at the pack academy, I took my usual place beside Kieran. Someone whistled. “Move over! Leave two spots for them. You wouldn’t split up a pair of future mates, would you?” I’d grown up hearing jokes like that. But when Kieran’s arm brushed my shoulder, I still blushed. He didn’t answer. He just looked at the camera. As the photographer told us to smile and cheers broke out around us, I heard his voice, low beside me. “This is exhausting. Can you stop clinging to me?” My smile froze. I was a half-blood in a werewolf pack, born with red hair and unable to hear the pack’s mind-link. But every word he spoke aloud came through perfectly clear. The flash went off. Kieran was the first to leave. He didn’t look back. I stayed on the lawn until the others had drifted away, then slowly made my way inside. A board in the hallway listed where the graduating students planned to go. A few weeks earlier, I’d pinned my application card for Westbridge Academy beside Kieran’s. He wanted to train there for border command. I’d originally been offered a recommended place at Lakeview Academy. An instructor there had reviewed my assessment scores and said I had a talent for tracking. But Kieran had told me Westbridge offered tracking courses too. So I’d changed my application. Now I reached up and took my card down.

At Blackwood Academy, everyone knows I'm a Null. No magic. I'm a mocked freak. Nobody likes me. Nobody except Shadow. We’ve been online dating for a year. Every night, he texted me his darkest desires through the screen. [I can't wait to meet you. I want to pin you down and be inside you, My Light.] I craved graduation. I wanted to see him. But today, he sent a photo. It showed an open, ancient spellbook. Glowing runes covered the pages. [My Light, I just finished work. I want my reward. Preferably a naked photo.] I blushed. I was about to type "tonight". Then my eyes locked on the unique black bookshelf behind the book. It was the signature bookshelf of Blackwood Academy's Restricted Section. My heart skipped a beat. A freakish coincidence. I go to this exact academy. The Restricted Section. Only professors have access! I froze. My mind went completely blank. Is this a sick joke? My secret online lover. The guy obsessed with my body. Is he right here? Wait. Is he a professor at my school?!

My best friend, Emily Waters, was a born social butterfly. After my childhood friend, Lucas Mercer, got to know her, he no longer wanted to practice magic with me. He thought I was dull and awkward, always a beat behind in everything. Whenever the three of us ate together, the two of them would run off to play skyball and tell me to find them at the field when I was done. At diving practice, I couldn't keep up with them. Halfway through, my spell failed, and I almost drowned. Only when I called for help did I realize they'd already made it back to shore. Finally, there was the day we filled out our academy applications together. I was still going through the list when Lucas spoke up. "You're too slow. I've gotta go help Emily grab floor seats for the traveling circus, so I'm heading out. Bye-bye. "Oh, right. We're both choosing Aldridge, the best elemental magic academy there is. Don't pick the wrong one, you little dummy." Emily giggled. "Don't talk about my Wendy like that. She's so slow, there's no way she'd pick the wrong one." They were laughing so hard that they drowned out my voice. I mumbled, "You'll never have to wait for me again." I had applied to Starglow Academy of Potions, a school devoted to potion-making. Only the very best potion makers could apply, and for our safety, the academy was cut off from the rest of the world.

For three years, a Carthen University genius tutors me online. When the SAT is finally over, I finally confess my feelings to him during the last moments of our final voice call. I whisper, "Actually, I really like—" Before I can finish, a sharp beep cuts me off. He hung up. Heartbroken, I pack my bags and head to Bellridge University alone. Once classes start, rumors fly about a brilliant upperclassman looking for a heartless freshman across Carthen University and Bellridge University. Wait a minute. Why does his voice sound exactly like my genius tutor?

I had a crush on Mandy Sawyer for three years. I had thought it would be my secret pantomime forever. I had even planned to silently wave goodbye to her back on the day of our high school graduation. However, when I saw her weeping silently under her desk over the sudden drop in her usually stellar results… I watched her trembling shoulders and knew that I could no longer pretend to be a stranger.

I was a two-hundred-pound girl. But on the night of graduation, I slept with Nova, captain of the Ashbury Ravens hockey team. The next morning, laughter drifted down the hotel hallway from his teammates. "Nova slipped his room key to Sienna last night, right?" "What, you think he'd give it to the Zamboni? That tub of lard. One look at her gives you nightmares for three days." "Did you guys see her reporter's notebook? It's covered in Nova's name. She's actually got a crush on Nova. Disgusting." So the room key that had slipped into my notebook wasn't meant for me. And the name he murmured against me in the dark wasn't mine either. My eyes burned with humiliation. I got dressed, walked out alone, and disappeared for six years. Six years later, my mother, Diane Quinn, was three months behind on her dialysis bills, and the sports website I worked for was on its last legs. My editor, Claire Bennett, slapped a file on my desk. "Nova. Newly crowned MVP. Not one interview in six years. Land him, or you're out."

I'd had a crush on my brother's best friend, Ethan—the most powerful Alpha of our Northern Territory—since I was twelve years old. When I was fifteen, I boldly confessed my feelings to him. He laughed and patted my head, casually promising, "When you turn eighteen and shift, if you're my mate, I'll mark you." That offhand promise became my greatest hope for three years. I spent every day waiting for my wolf to awaken, praying to the Moon Goddess that she would designate us as mates. But on the night of my eighteenth birthday, after my wolf first awakened, I was shocked to discover that Ethan truly was my mate! Ignoring the intense shifting pain coursing through my body, I immediately shifted into my wolf form and ran toward Ethan's training grounds. I clutched the gift I'd prepared long ago, but instead heard Ethan urgently confessing to his Omega assistant Victoria: "Who would be stupid enough to actually care about a true mate? The bond between her and me is just the Moon Goddess's mistake. I only love you. I'll only mark you as my Luna." The words hit me like silver bullets to the chest. My wolf whimpered in pain, the mate bond burning like acid in my veins. I stood frozen behind the trees, watching the man I'd loved for six years dismiss our sacred connection as if it meant nothing. Later, Ethan introduced Victoria as his "fiancée." When Victoria demanded that I publicly bless their marking ceremony, Ethan remained completely indifferent to my humiliation. "Sylvia should give us her blessing," Victoria announced at the pack meeting, her voice sweet as poison. "After all, she's been like a little sister to Ethan all these years." Every wolf in the room could smell my distress. But Ethan said nothing, refusing to even look at me. When rogue wolves attacked our territory and I was surrounded, Ethan didn't hesitate to scoop up Victoria—who had only a tiny scratch on her finger—and carry her away to find the pack healer. He left me bleeding and alone, silver claws ha

When I woke up, my right hand was clutching a pair of men's Calvin Klein underwear. Two letters were embroidered in gold thread on the inside of the waistband: J.C. A push notification popped up right on cue. Number three on TikTok's trending page: Dalton University's hockey captain loses five pairs of underwear in one week; roommate reveals the victim has been forced to go commando. In the video, Chase Jacobson's roommate, Tyler Brooks, held an empty drawer up to the camera and tearfully demanded justice. And under my pillow, a suspicious little bundle bulged. I slowly reached over. One pair, two, three, four. Plus the one in my hand: five. The underwear thief the whole school was hunting... turned out to be me.

During my senior year of college, I started dating Leo Whitman online. He was the hottest guy on campus. All through winter break, he texted me every day. He kept me company while I took my grandmother to her pre-op appointments. One night, at two in the morning, he even promised that when we got back to Boston, he'd make up for all the hugs we'd missed. Then the new semester started, and we finally met at the student center. The moment Leo saw me, his face fell. He pulled out his phone, showed me a photo, and said there had been a mix-up. He'd added the wrong girl on Instagram. The girl he had a crush on was my roommate, Vivian Blake. Back in December, Leo had spotted Vivian at the school's winter charity gala and snapped a photo of her from the side. He posted it in his fraternity group chat and offered $10,000 to whoever could introduce them. Except his roommate had sent him my Instagram handle by mistake. And just like that, I understood how I'd spent two months in a relationship that had never really been mine. Leo sat by the window without saying a word. After a long silence, he slid a signed check across the table. "We're done here. But I need you to help me win Vivian over. Write in whatever amount you want."

When I missed the passing grade by one point, my best friend dragged me to a bar. She said there was nothing a drink couldn't fix. I drank until I blacked out. When I woke up, a man lay beside me, all cool eyes and tightly leashed control. I left two hundred dollars on the nightstand and ran for my life. I thought I'd never see him again. Then, on the first day of the new semester, the class I'd failed had a new professor. I looked up at the podium. The man from that night stood at the lectern, opened the roster, and read my name in a cool, even voice. "Vivian Harper, come see me in my office tomorrow." The color drained from my face. Convinced he was here for payback, I stayed up all night writing a transfer application. The next day, I clutched my transfer application all the way to his office. Before I could work up the nerve to speak, he pulled out a sheet of paper and studied me with an unreadable expression. "I've read the assignment you turned in." "Care to explain why a positive pregnancy test was bound into your term paper?"