The Wattys 2014 "Undiscovered Gem" Stella Henry is afraid of a lot of things. As a child, her simple, comfortable home life did not prepare her for the sort of people whom she would meet as a younger teenager. Now eighteen and a freshman at Clemson University, Stella meets Charlie, who, like her, has long been keeping others at bay. Though his disposition is kind and gentle, Charlie is a boxer, and his world only reminds Stella of elements of her past she would like to forget. When both realize that they have a safe place in one another, they start to overcome their fear of other people, and of letting them get close enough to matter. In many ways, this is a story about allowing people to matter to our lives, and about meaning something to them, in turn. At some point in your day, in your routine, in your life, you will matter to someone. That is a special kind of power, do be careful with it. "We love people not so much for the good they've done us, as for the good we've done them." Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Pental Pal (noun) - one who exchanges letters to one another as pen pals. But uses the same writing utensil, in this case, a pentel pencil. They never wanted to do this from the start. The thought of writing to a complete stranger. Never seeing whose handwriting is in the letter you're reading. Someone who could be miles, maybe even oceans away from you. And all you get is a picture and a name. To Lizzabeth Teschler, this is extra credit. Even though she doesn't want to do this, she had to. But she's doing this for extra credit so she can still maintain her title of having the highest GPA record. Then she could finish the rest of high school and go off to college. Her whole life is all planned out for her, and she can't do anything to change it. There's a future for her, but not the one she wants. To William Patier, it's cruel torture. He had to do this against his will. This is his last chance before he gets shipped off to military school. Nothing but waking up at dawn, eating disgusting food, and not have a single girl in sight every day. After he graduates from school, who knows where he'll find himself. There's no future for him, not like there's any way to change it. So two complete opposites from different worlds are forced to write each other for a whole year. Add that with some arguments, secrets, two pentel pencils, some cookie butter, a Green Day album, an origami heart, some coffee from Starbucks, two teachers dating, Eddie Anderson, a rival and a cheater. With all that bundled up, who knows what will happen? But at least they don't know each other... right?

{ effervescence; n.: bubbles in a liquid } a whole world of blue and green above them as they spoke the things they never said which came out in bubbles and quickly disappeared in the water; up, up, up, while their lungs filled with water - up, down, floating - and they d r o w n e d | Teen Fiction Awards Winner in the Category Writing |

Mature for adult content!! The world we live in is a beautiful, mysterious place. My home, my country, has been my world my entire life, living as the cursed princess of Iris is all I have ever know. Just as the only eyes I have known in the mirror were my own. And my hair was always white as snow. Iris has always been my home, its people my family. The kind smiles of villagers and the curious looks of children seeing me for the first time, the contrast of myself against the rest of my family in portraits. The whisper of the trees and the laughter of the flowers has always been what I lived by. "why are you so sad?" I rested my forehead on the cracked bark of the Soul Tree. My second home from the palace. The tallest tree in all the king's forest. Today it was deeply saddened, rumbling with a sort of bitter energy that leaks coldly into my bones. I wondered what it knew that I did not as I sat perched in its branches, it is not often that it's strong mass wavers. When it does it can only mean change is to come, nothing small. Something altering the kingdom itself. I sighed, my fingers brushing over its leathery leaves, it wouldn't be long until someone else noticed its unease, it will sicken the forest. By then it will be too late. ~~ Flora Duval, the cursed princess of Iris was always a quiet girl, working through her duties as princess and caring for the life in her country. Seeing beauty in the things most could not. Never has she expected an offer for marriage, not with her hair and her eyes the same pink of the Fenni flower. But then, she receives one. Less of a question for her hand and more of a demand, a demand caging her like a white rabbit in a deadly hunters trap. Trapped by the king of Taragon for her unusual features and the rumors of her life, Flora is stranded in a country she has never known, captured in cold castle walls without an ally in sight.

The world had gone to hell long ago, taken over by the vampire race. In order to keep some sort of peace in our land, the Vampire Lords made a consecutive agreement. The rich and powerful humans could survive just as they had been, untouched by the vampires save for the occasional blood collections, or so they thought In reality, we were all under their control. Castles spread out throughout our land, one landing in each city. Each castle varied in the number of vampires residing there, but all of them carried a Lord. The Lords were the ones in charge in every city, whether we liked it or not. The vampires often roam through the city, making sure that everyone was in order and no one stepped out of line. If you stepped out of line, you died, end of story. Even if the rich were still under their control, their lives were still better than the poor. The poorest lives held a much worse fate. The men were to be put to work as slaves, whether that meant serving a specific vampire, or just building their castles, they were slaves. The women were to be pets. Pets were the lowest rank you could have. They were forced into cages that were too small to stand in with collars around their necks. They spent their lives in pet shops, just waiting for the dreadful day that they'll be bought. They were treated like animals, trained into what their master wanted, and punished if they misbehaved. Those who were lucky enough to live through that, we're to be slaughtered for their blood at age twenty-five in an act to make sure that our population would stay steady. I was born into this world. Born into this world full of blood-sucking monsters. Except, I was one of the lucky ones. Was. It all ended for me when I was 12, when I was taken away from the last bit of hope and family that I had left. Ever since then, I've lived in a cage, just rotting away, waiting, dreading for the day that some monster would make me his. This is my life. I am a pet. ~~~ Cover by: @mshacake

"What are you doing?" -Seventh "Eating a bowl of soul."-Zero ".........Well then." -Seventh "I meant SOUP. A BOWL OF SOUP." -Zero "Yeah... sure, say it was a typo or blame it on the autocorrect." -Seventh "I'm laughing at my own failure right now." -Zero (Highest Ranking: #4 Humor 7.4.17)

Cigarettes, lilac skies and poetry at 3am: sixteen-year-old Pietro ''Pit'' Rossi knows the adrenaline of feeling empty and infinite at the same time. With the reputation of a goofy idiot who doesn't care about anything at all, getting held back at school doesn't seem like a problem. But it is. Because Pit cares about everything, and he always cares too much. [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]

"As soon as you believe you are a monster is when you become one." After many years of war, the kingdom of Edria is finally in an era of peace--peace obtained by one thing and one thing only. A deal. King Regol has made a deal with the devil, or rather, a beast. A monster. Or so he claims. When he uses the deal for his own advantage, he threatens a girl named Zara, who has had everything but her family taken away. Zara is ordered to kill the beast Regol made a deal with, unbenownst to her that the deal even exists. When her attempt fails, she is left with two choices: to never go back home, or to learn from the beast so she can take back what is hers. She faces dangers on the castle grounds she thought were only stories; magic, creatures that kill a person in a single puff of air, and lastly, the beast, who can barely control the darkness that has buried itself in him for years. The longer she is on the castle grounds, however, the more she realizes everything is more than it seems... ...and that she has a power she could only dream about. **** A retelling of Beauty and the Beast Wonderful cover by @nicegirlsreadbooks Highest rank: #1 in Fantasy #4 in Adventure

this story contains adult content!!!! read at own risk. I glared at the vampire before me, pressing myself against the bars of my 'cage' before dropping the glare and offering him my sweetest grin, "once I get out of her I'm going to kill alllll of you!" I swept my arms out wide, my grin turning feral, "I'm going to rip out all of your throats and see how you like your blood being drained from your neck." The vampire flashed his fangs at me in an equally menacing grin, "you can try that all you want, after the auction." I was tempted to spit in his face but I really did not want to be whipped...again. ~~~ Calla, an 18 year old human girl has always lived her life on the run, but was captured by vampires and forced into auction at a high end 'pet shop' where any wealthy vampire can buy her and proceed to do as they please until they decide to kill her. Pessimistic, rude, and short fused Calla is one hell of a handful, one most vampier's don't want to bother with...until him. THIS SHIT IS RATED MATURE in case you were curious this isn't labeled Mature on the wattpad rating thing because it won't let me change my fucking maturity thing.

Rory Wade is terrified of what happens to her when she sleeps. One morning, she wakes up to find bruises and scars covering every inch of her body. She doesn't know what's happening, but suspects it has something to do with her father's disappearance, which happened at the same time she started developing her sleepwalking symptoms. And then she meets Seth, the mysterious boy who walks with purpose and may have all the answers to her questions. Her idea of reality is shattered when her world collides with that of four teenagers who call themselves "Dream Crashers." They fight a war against demons who pray on humans in their vulnerable sleep states, except now they've encountered an enemy they can't face alone. They are interested in Rory because she possesses unique abilities that they can't explain. She discovers a part of herself she never imagined existed and the truth behind her father's disappearance. --- Started March 2014 | Finished September 2014 Parnormal #1 | Action #2 Wattys 2014 Winner for "The Best of Instant Addiction" Beautiful cover made by @Ashihara