Magic. Mystery. Adventure. My life was supposed to be normal. I tried for it to be normal. But life has a way of surprising you. Soon I'm facing mystery snakes, a school of magical misfits and a plot to destroy everything I've come to care about. I belong here. More than I've ever belonged anywhere. I won't let anyone take that from me, even if it means accepting the power I've been running from my whole life. Five Brothers. Five Marked. Secrets and lies hold everything together. But when you pull on a string... It goes farther down than anyone ever expected. And sometimes that thread unravels everything.

Nolan, an unapproachable guy who ignores the existence of all his schoolmates, sleeps in all of his classes. Normally, this wouldn't be Chelsea Arnold's problem-she does her best to pay attention in class and attends gym like a good, normal student. Unfortunately, she just so happens to be his assigned desk partner in many classes. She's frequently forced to wake him in English class and ends up earning the unofficial title of Nolan's Wake-up Alarm-a title that nobody in the entire school covets. The last thing she wants is to interact with him more than she absolutely has to. One day, their gym teacher sends her to bring him back to class, which he always skips for some reason. When she accidentally shines her flashlight in his sleeping face, it triggers a chain of events that gradually intertwines their lives together. It's hard to be a normal student when you start befriending the school oddball. It doesn't help that he has more secrets than the Big Ben has stairs. ----- Complete. (first person, past tense, slowburn) ----- 1st place in Humor Category of Psychological Novel Reads Contest 2020 (29 Sep 2020) ----- Started: April 28, 2020 Completed: July 23, 2021 Word Count: 160K+ ----- The sequel, The Tortoise and His Sunrise, is up on my profile now!