Writing Royalty

Chapter One

I grip the steering wheel of my parked car, knuckles white against the leather. Crouching down in the driver's seat, I watch as hordes of students shuffle into the brick building. Some laugh, casually walking with their friends. Others practically sprint. Most have their eyes glued to their phones. I groan and check my own iPhone for the fiftieth time that morning.

Two million views and six hundred thousand "likes." The numbers just keep growing. My breath catches as I stare at the comments section, rolling in so fast I couldn't possibly keep up with them. They're mostly positive, from what I can tell. Of course, there are the obvious trolls, but that's not what bothers me. It's the people from my school, names I recognize, that have me hiding out in my car before first period. What am I going to do?

Bang! Bang!

I startle and drop my phone.

"Hello, earth to Bailey," my best friend Talia knocks on my car window. Her voice is slightly muffled through the glass, the autumn wind blowing her dyed red and purple locks in a mess around her face. "Are you going to come inside or what?"

"Nope." I shake my head and shove my hand into the space between the seat and center console, digging around for my wayward phone. Just as I locate the plastic under my fingertips, I somehow manage to push it under the seat.

Dang it!

Talia skips around to the other side, opens the passenger door, and slides into the front seat. A burst of cool air follows her inside before she slams it shut. "Crazy morning, huh?" She grins, hugging her signature Hello Kitty backpack on her lap.

"You could say that again," I grumble, scrunching down awkwardly. I am so not getting out this car. I may never get out!

"It could be worse," Talia says. I shoot her a glare and she holds her hands up in surrender. "What? It's not like having your stories go viral isn't every writer's dream!"

"This is different, and you know it." I give up on the phone for a minute and sit up. "Only a few people read my stuff before. I was safe to write whatever I wanted."

"About whoever you wanted," Talia laughs. "So what? They can't do anything about it. Just keep going. You're famous now!"

I take a deep breath and glance at the clock. Only five minutes until class, which means the warning bell would have just sounded. "You better get inside," I say.

"Hey, solidarity, right?" Talia nods, her lip raising in a half smile. "We'll go together." She pops down the mirror and expertly applies black lipstick. Another signature of hers that I couldn't possibly replicate.

I should take her up on the offer to go in together, but I just can't. "I need to do this myself."

She pauses, studying me for a long minute. Finally, she turns to watch the last of the stragglers run into the building. "Okay fine," she says. "But text me if anything happens. You can't skip school. Your mom will kill you." She's right, of course.

"I'm just going to come in late."

She nods again, slips her lipstick back into her bag, opens the door, and takes off running for the entrance of Silver Lake High School. The building is one story, long and sprawling across the lawn. The trees only hold a few leaves, long since turned to gold. The mountains rise up just above us, anchoring our small town.

I finally locate my phone and check the numbers again. It's like a car crash that you don't want to see, but can't look away from. The views just keep going up. I can't do anything about it now. It's going to keep growing and I figure I either have one of two options.

Delete the whole thing.

Finish the story.

But I already know what I'm going to do. I'm going to finish it. I jump from the car and high-tail it toward the building. I keep my head down as my canvas messenger bag flaps against my thigh.

I'm a writer and these are my characters, I tell myself. I've created this world over the last six months and I owe it to myself to finish. Plus, I'm just as eager to see what's going to happen as any reader.

I swing open the door and a blast of heated air hits me. I pause to catch my breath, happily noting that the hallway is empty.

My problem isn't that I write, it's who I write. The characters are based off of real people. And not just ordinary people, but Silver Lake's high school royalty. To be honest, the most popular clique in school was easy inspiration for my writing. Not only are they all gorgeous, but they're talented, smart, and horribly dysfunctional. Watching them is like watching a bad episode of reality television. I started writing about them the same way I had written fan fiction in the past. Only in this case, I literally made them royalty. Well, some of them.

I reach my locker and deposit my bag inside, snatching up my English Literature textbook, binder, and pencil case. I really hate being late to any class, let alone my favorite one. But a girl can only handle so much sudden attention. No way was I going to walk into school while everyone was still in the halls.

It doesn't matter. It's just a story.

Certainly no one here knew anything about it other than Talia. Until last night. Last night when mega celebrity teen pop star Cassidy Klein tweeted the story out to the entire universe. Somehow she'd stumbled upon it in the social writing app I use, and had loved it. She'd shared it to her followers, and the next thing I knew, my ridiculously unpopular account had skyrocketed to the top of the charts.

And it's still climbing!

I slam the locker shut and turn to head to class when a body pummels into me. The items in my arms go flying, and I scramble to pick them up. "Sorry," I mutter to the guy standing over me. Why am I apologizing? He's the one who ran into me.

"You should watch out," he responds. My heart practically stops. A bolt of electricity racing down my spine. I know that voice. I peer up at Roan Cain. I notice that his eyes are even more striking when staring into my own. Glacier blue. I gulp as my cheeks burn.

His expression narrows as he reaches down to pick up my notebook.

"That's my Lit. notebook," I say, dumbly.

"Hmm," he frowns, studying it. "Anything in here I need to know about?"

I'm dead. Seriously. My stomach feels like it's going to drop out of my body. This is so embarrassing!

"You've seen the story?" I croak.

He stares a moment longer, running his eyes over me as I stand. My cheeks burn even hotter. Not only is he one of the people I've written about in the fictitious world, he's also the king. And let's just say I've described him as insanely hot, and equally ruthless. And he may or may not be the villain of the story.

He carefully hands me the notebook, never pulling his heavy gaze from mine. "I did read it. Unfortunately."

I gulp. Well thanks...

"What's your name? Bailey, right?"

I nod and take a step back, clutching my book to my chest. My back presses against the cool locker. I can faintly smell antiseptic from the newly cleaned floors.

"Well, Bailey," his voice comes out in a sneer. The fluorescent light shines off his perfectly styled black hair. "I'm Roan, but I think you already know that."

I fumble to stick out my hand. But he doesn't shake it. Instead, he shifts in closer, practically pinning me to the locker. Roan's got at least a foot of height and over fifty pounds of muscle on me. He smells like soap and honey, not that I notice.

"You and I need to have a little chat."

***A note from the author***
Wow, it was really different writing in present tense. What did you think? Was this a good opening? Are you excited for where this book is heading? I can't wait for you to meet the rest of the cast!