[ONC2023 Round 2 Ambassador's Pick and Shortlister] Getting over a loved one's death isn't easy. For Eric Gagnon, it's near impossible. A year after losing his sister, he's still struggling, questioning the meaning and purpose of life. He goes through the motions every day, not sure how much longer he can go on. With nothing to lose, he takes the advice from a neighbor and gets in the taxi that he'd only heard about but never seen. When the taxi drops him off, he enters a place he never imagined, stumbling upon someone he never quite expected. Through this journey, he discovers something that goes beyond meaning and purpose. Prompt 9 "There's an urban legend that's been circulated for years about a taxi cab that doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go. One night, you stepped into the cab." OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2023

‘He went out of the room. In his boxers. Again. Like the laws and principles of the universe, which were scientifically proven, I couldn’t help but scowl. He smirked. “Well, stop drooling all over me.” I wrinkled my nose. “Right. Good luck with your delusions.” With that, I prepared to leave. Cam’s jaw twitched. He walked closer to me. Closer still. His green eyes held me in place. Before I knew it, he was standing inches from me. I was holding my breath. He smiled confidently. “Falling in love with me?” I didn’t know why... but I was speechless.’ Seventeen year-old Shea Collins’s life was pretty much falling apart. She was flunking her Physics class, she has a hundred bucks to pay to a long-lost childhood friend she could barely remember, she was receiving anonymous declarations of love from a secret admirer (which were completely embarrassing), and now her spot on the school paper is in jeopardy. What she wants: To keep her spot as the feature editor of the school paper. How she plans to do it: To survive being a phantom writer. A writer no one would know of. A mystery. Someone who would write gossips and rumors about students. Who she’s planning to target: Oh, just the biggest jerk of the century—Camden Sun. What she’s going to get: Trouble. Lots of it. What she didn’t expect: The unexpected (duh). Love.

Reed Hadley would gladly spend her day holed up in her room with her dog, watching horror movies or surfing the internet on her trusty laptop. Too bad she is the daughter of one of the biggest matchmakers in the business. As soon as Reed started to develop into what scientist dubbed an adolescent, her mom has been sitting her up on dates, which seem to go wrong every time. Reed is done with these dates, and she realizes that the only way to get her mom off her back is to find a boyfriend. When Reed is partnered with bad boy Parker Hunt on a school project, they can't stand each other. However, Reed and Parker quickly realize they need each other; Reed needs Parker so that her mom will stop with the blind dates, and Parker needs Reed so his jealous ex-girlfriend will leave him alone. So, this odd pair strikes up a deal. For appearances' sake, they're an item. Behind closed doors, they may fight like children, but Reed and Parker have managed to fool the people they need to. However, can a fake relationship stay fake forever?

it's very simple. When these two different people with similar choices meet, their whole worlds turn upside down. Troublemaker J.D tries to keep on living his life the way he thinks he should. Illegal stuff-free. But nothing is that simple once you had a taste of what's wrong. and Julie wants to be in love. She wants passion and adventure like the heroines in her books but to shy and quiet for her own good. If you find yourself similar to Julie and you love bad boys i promise you will love this story ;)

*WARNING: Written in 2008, some content may be offensive* Stasee is your typical shy, quiet teenage girl until the night her brother's best friend Damen Hurtz decides to finally acknowledge her existence. In a desperate attempt to gain his acceptance she allows him to take the one thing every girl values most...her virginity. After that night, Damen constantly begins accepting her while they're alone and then rejecting her in front of his peers. Stasee's frustration and confusion continues to grow, as do her feeling toward the man who continues to break her heart. He claims that he cares for her, but will his need for his peer's acceptance prevent him from ever treating Stasee the way he should? And if he finally realizes the stupidity of popularity over love, will Stasee still be waiting for him?

Is it possible for a bad boy to be your saving grace? Well for Farrah Bryant it was. After she finds out her boyfriend of six months has been cheating on her, who do you think was there to help her through it all and most importantly get revenge? That's right. The notorious school bad boy Brody Bauer. Just that name alone was enough to send people into hiding. However for Farrah she couldn't have been happier to have him on her side. Especially when it comes to destroying her ex Blake Coleman. Although nothing comes without a price and, Farrah is just about to figure that out when the school bad boy starts making some demands of his own. What could be the reason for this bad boys sudden interest in helping her? And what is it with his hot possessiveness? There is only one way to find out!

Braxton is a wild partier. As the youngest of three sons to the biggest ranch owner in Texas there aren’t very many responsibilities that fall on his shoulders so he spends his time drinking, gambling, brawling and whoring. Important business for a rough and tumble man like him. But what happens when his father falls ill, his oldest brother has to stay and run the ranch, his other brother is busy with business of his own and Braxton is the only one who can lead the cattle on the hundreds of miles of trail to the market? Is he up to the challenge? And what will happen when he finds that the young boy along on the drive is actually a full grown woman determined to prove she is as tough as any man? And not just any woman but Laura Greene, the woman who had always been after his boot heels and in love with him... Trouble his he loves her too and a cattle drive isnt' a safe place. Life has suddenly gotten a lot more complicated!

"Rose, I'm sorry, but your eyesight will be gone by the end of this year." Who knew one simple sentence could change a life so drastically? Rose is a normal seventeen year old girl with a normal life, normal friends, and what she thought to be normal vision. When she receives the news her vision is slowly deteriorating, she doesn't know what to think. Her life is over. What's a life without being able to see? Enter Chace, a young man who tackled Rose to the ground, mistakingly thinking she was about to commit suicide. He's handsome, suave, and has no idea why Rose is so upset. And even though she is a complete stranger, he decides he wants to help her feel better. With four months until her vision is gone forever, Rose slowly falls in love with this happy-go-lucky young man, but never reveals her problem to him. She's scared. Will he stay with her when he finds out she's going blind? Or will he ditch her when he finds out the truth?

***** THIS IS JUST A SAMPLE OF THE STORY. IT IS BEING PUBLISHED ON 5TH NOVEMBER 2013 SO I HAVE HAD TO REMOVE MOST OF IT FROM WATTPAD. Please don't ask me to put the story back up here on Wattpad, I am not allowed due to the terms and conditions of publishing!!***** Annabelle Spencer’s life is every girl’s dream. She has wonderful parents, great friends, and of course the perfect boyfriend, Jack Roberts. That all changes on her sixteenth birthday when her life comes crashing down around her. Her dream night turns into a nightmare when Jack is murdered right in front of her, and she’s kidnapped by his murderer, Carter Thomas, a big time drug and arms dealer. After ten months of being with Carter, she’s found, but the experience has totally changed her. She’s no longer the happy-go-lucky girl that everyone used to know and love; she’s now cold, hard and suffers from night terrors. It appears that Carter broke not only her body, but her spirit too. A shadow of her former self, her slogan for life is now: ‘If you don’t care about anything, then you have nothing to lose’. Carter is currently serving time for the murder of Jack, a conviction that Anna helped secure. But his retrial is coming up because some key evidence appears to have been tampered with. Unbeknown to Anna, death threats are being received by her father, the Senator. It appears that Carter is still interested in Anna and will stop at nothing to get her back. Ashton Taylor is brought in to protect her. He’s a newly qualified SWAT agent, a bright spark, the agency’s new golden boy. He is assigned undercover, posing as her boyfriend. His job is to help her through college and keep her safe until the end of the trial in eight months’ time.