Annalise Writes

Chapter 6

Back in my room, I flopped down face first onto my bed. Indignation ballooned inside me as the pettiest of petty thoughts grumbled across my mind.

I was the brainiac who authored The Nerd and the Player.

I was also the creative genius behind A Loveless Blood Moon Eclipse.

And I was the undisputed, underappreciated mastermind who created His Tattooed Hotness, Jaxon Zane Maddox's and Lord Byron Malachi Maxwell's beautiful fanged charms, yet, yet, yet—

Now Kyra was the one enjoying all the spoils of my hard work!

Hmph.

From across the hall, my roommate's squeals and giggles of delight continued to rub salt on my wounds.

I muttered some choice expletives under my breath.

Moments later, a suspicious-sounding female moan sifted through the walls. It was followed by a slew of equally cringeworthy male grunts and groans.

Ew, ew, ew.

I grabbed my pillow so I could muffle the noises of whatever it was my roommate and my two characters were doing to each other at the moment.

As I picked up my pillow, my fingers brushed against something small and pokey and stick-like.

What the—

I tossed my pillow aside to reveal two weird-looking twigs resting on my mattress.

My brow furrowed.

What had these been doing on my bed? Did Kyra put them there?

I held the twigs up to my face for closer inspection. Several strands of hair had been wrapped around them. The hairs were black. Like mine. At least, I hoped they were human hairs.

Or did I?

My eyes widened with unease.

Ew, ew, ew.

This was too much for me! I didn't even want to know if these creepyass sticks had anything to do with my roommate or her wacky love spell!

I dashed over the bathroom. With the hair-twined twigs dangling from the tips of my thumbs and forefingers, I flushed them both down the toilet without a second thought.

Just then, I heard Jaxon bellow from Kyra's room, "What the fuck! You're not Cate! Get off of me!"

Lord Maxwell's voice thundered right after him, "My lady, I must insist that you remove your hands from my person as well! My body, heart, and soul have long been promised to another!"

Uh-oh.

With guilt-ridden eyes, I glanced over to the toilet.

Perhaps those hairy twigs had something to do with Kyra's love spell, after all...

Sorry, but not sorry!

I grinned as I heard Kyra's bedroom door swing open. Heavy footsteps stomped towards me.

My roommate's voice cried out desperately, "Wait! Jaxie! Lord M! Please come back! I can explain!"

Within seconds, Jaxon and Lord Maxwell were back in my room. They were still fully dressed, but their hair and clothing were in a state of obvious disarray.

"Did you two have fun with Kyra?" I asked in snarky tones.

With thunderous expressions on their faces, both men glared at me as though I was the enemy, as though I was the one who had forced them to follow Kyra into her evil lair.

"How could you let us do that, Annalise? You're supposed to be the one in charge," Jaxon growled angrily. "Cate would kill me if she saw me with another girl!"

I sniffed delicately. "I'm your author, Jaxon! Not your baby-sitter!"

"Much to my chagrin and utter dismay, my dear Annalise, I must concur with the fair-haired flapdoodle! I nearly betrayed my beloved with that green-eyed vixen!" Lord Maxwell whimpered pitifully. "Oh, the gods shall punish me for this! Now I shall never be reunited with my sweet Elizabeth within this lifetime or the next..."

"Honestly, guys," I said with a sigh, "I have no idea what the hell is going on anymore, but I'm pretty sure that everything in your head is fictional, meaning that... Cate isn't real. Neither is Elizabeth. So... maybe you two should just sit down, take a breather, and... relax?"

"Cate is definitely real! You need to help me find her, Annalise!"

"Indeed, indeed! Elizabeth may be a phantom, but she is certainly no figment of my imagination! I, too, implore you to assist me in scouring the ends of this realm until we find my dear girl's soul!"

Jaxon and Lord M were starting to give me another migraine. Clearly, they weren't going to listen to me. Clearly, arguing with them right now was going to be a lost cause.

Sighing again, heavily, I tried to offer them an alternative, "Why don't we deal with all that shit with your lady loves tomorrow?"

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"What shall we do in the meantime, then?"

I paused, wracked my brain for ideas, and came up with this gem, "Wanna watch a K-drama with me?"

Lord Maxwell eyed me suspiciously. "What is this... K-drama... you speak of?"

Jaxon snickered and scoffed, "It's basically porn for women."

I gasped in outrage and threw my pillow at Jaxon. It smacked him in the face with a satisfying 'thud.'

K-dramas were my jam! K-dramas were my life! How dare he insult them?

Huffing and puffing like the titular villain from Three Little Pigs, I exclaimed, "It's not porn, Jaxon! K-dramas are more, like, beautiful, sweet crack cocaine for the heart! I dare you to watch one episode of Dae Jang Geum or Coffee Prince and not fall in love with the whole damn series!"