Not Your Ordinary Novels & Stories

I replied, kissed his cheek, and swiftly moved out of his car. I can do this. I don’t need fake people to survive school. I took a deep breath and hoped that my radically beating heart could beat more normally. So I don’t have to hear it thumping in my mouth. When I reached the hallways. Nobody was looking at me or paying any attention to me. Which was good. Everything was normal. But what about me? I guess, now I have to find a new normal for myself. I opened my locker and as soon as I opened it. I was surrounded by people.

“What are you doing? Can we talk about this calmly? She never said she wouldn’t help!” Then, she moved to sit beside me and whisper reassuringly, “Harper, I’m not trying to force you into giving us your money, but we really don’t have any other choice. Since we can’t rely on your brother anymore, you’re the only support your father and I have.”

Right before the syndicate's power handover, I flew back to New York after a year of studying jewelry design in Europe. But the night before the ceremony, my secret boyfriend of three years—the Rossi family's new second-in-command—sent me a text: [Sorry, Chloe. I lost a card game, and you were my chip. You're his problem now.] Before I could even breathe, I got tagged in the family's encrypted dark-web channel. The top thread was blowing up: [The Mafia Boss Just Won a Fat Pig for a Girlfriend!] Pinned right at the top was an old photo of me from a few years ago. Back when I was 180 pounds. The comment section was ruthless: [If the Boss knew what he actually won, he'd regret making that bet.]

She closed the video, looking at her own quiet apartment, her normal job, her ordinary life. And wondered if maybe, just maybe, ordinary wasn’t enough anymore either…*

“And if you’d asked me this afternoon, I would have said I was ready for this evening. But here I am with cold feet.” Breath rasped in and out of his lungs as he tried to reassure her. “It’s all right.” “It’s incredibly stupid,” she murmured, shaking her head. “But right at this moment I suddenly feel overwhelmed.” “By what? Who?” ''You. You overwhelm me, Nathan. I imagine you overwhelm most ordinary people.” He couldn’t help but smile. “Well, there’s your problem. You think you’re ordinary. But let me tell you, you couldn’t be more wrong. If you think you’re ordinary, then you’re definitely not seeing what I’m seeing.”

𝙽𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙸 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙵𝙸𝙽𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙸𝚂 𝚆𝙴𝙸𝚁𝙳 𝙱𝚄𝚃 𝚁𝚈𝙰𝙽 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝙰𝚂𝚂𝚄𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙸 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙿𝙻𝙴𝚃𝙴𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝙰𝙵𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝙰𝙽𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 𝚃� ��𝙴 𝙿𝙰𝙲𝙺 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙰𝚄𝚂𝙴 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚈 𝚆𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙿𝚁𝙾𝚃𝙴𝙲𝚃 𝙼𝙴 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁 𝙻𝙸𝙵𝙴. "𝚈𝙴𝚂? 𝙲𝙰𝙽 𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝙳 𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙽𝚃 𝙳𝙾𝙾𝚁?"

"Cough... Sorry, Michael. I know today's the marriage registration with Elsa. I shouldn't bug you, but I feel really awful..." Michael didn't even blink. He slammed the brakes and pulled over. "What's going on?" Kallie coughed again, all soft and pitiful. "Maybe it's from when I gave you blood. Just a little wind and sun makes me feel so weak..." "Then get to a hospital. Right now," Michael said. "I... I can't. I can't even get out of bed..." I almost burst out laughing. Seriously? Since when does a basic blood donation turn you into a Victorian ghost?