Watty Finalist: Mystery/Thriller, On the Rise I see him vividly in my head. Him. The guy who calls himself A for whatever reason. The guy dressed in a black cloak with a hood that makes his face look like an endless sea of darkness. The guy whose voice is like velvet; so smooth; yet so deep and dark it sends chills down my spine every time he speaks. The guy whose simple words and actions are enough to send my heart into a frenzy. The guy whose black-as-night eyes captivate me day and night. The guy who enjoys teasing me and making me angry, like it's one of his new hobbies. The guy who has the power to make my legs turn to jelly in an instant. The guy whose past is so deep, dark, and bottled up that it scares me. The guy who spends most of his time stalking me; visiting me at night. The guy whose arms hold me so tight and securely. The guy who evokes feelings in me that honestly scare the hell out of me. But he's not just a guy. He's a criminal. The criminal that calls me cupcake.

Sometimes <3 means like. Sometimes <3 means love. Like the emotions it represents, sometimes <3 gets complicated. Fifteen-year-old Summer Day has a plan for the perfect school vacation until her mom drops the M-bomb on it. She wants Summer to do something 'M-eaningful' this year. Could anything be more meaningful than gossiping with best friend Madison or hanging out with perfect boyfriend Brady? Summer skirts her mother's demands by promising to construct a website - then launches a secret blog instead. But when the most annoying boy in the universe keeps showing up in embarrassingly intimate situations, Brady grows jealous, and Summer turns to her blog readers for help. They devise a plan but everything backfires when the boy she thought she'd always hate reveals he knows the stories behind the stars, the lyrics to all of Summer's favorite songs and the s'mores-lined path that leads straight to her heart.

Bronte Davis is Worthington High's sweetheart. With a charismatic and loveable personality and a drive to help anyone and everyone, it's easy to understand just why everyone loves her. That is, everyone except Blake Parker; the school's rude and arrogant bad boy. But even that's not hard to understand why. While Blake is mean, cruel and egotistical, Bronte is kind, helpful and humble. So what happens when Bronte is forced to stay at Blake's house since her parents are off on a work trip around Africa? Well, with Bronte's sudden determination to befriend the arrogant Bad Boy, you can only imagine all the different possibilities. Yes, all the possibilities that involve the two ripping each other's throats out, that is. With late night conversations, ruthless pranks, constant bickering and secrets that are yet to unfold, its a miracle the two haven't killed each other... yet. Then again, opposites do attract. ▲ ▲ ▲ Cover made by @jeoneunkiko

"I think that you don't rush love, we all have the right one... We just have to wait for it" I glance to my friends on the front of the class as I nervously gave my introductory speech. As my hands shiver thanks to the nerves I am feeling, I decide to walk back to my place. I could feel their eyes on me, watching my every move and I could hear the claps of my class but what I cant do is shake the feeling that I did it wrong. " You were great over there!" one of my closest friend says, she is smilling over an ipad and her hair falls clumsily on her face, I can barely see her gestures, but her right hand is holding an earphone on, as I asume her left one lies on her ear. "Thanks Valerie, although I think you are teling me a lie" I say after giving her a weak smile. I can peek at my other friend as I watch Valerie shoving her elbow to Christina who finally snaps out of her book, and glances around energetically. Her wavy hair falls all the way from her head to her shoulders, resting almost as low as her bellybutton. It's a hazel nut colour, and let me tell you, if you see it in the sun, it shines quite beautifully. Her eyes always glancing at the ground after too much eye contact, accompanied by a soft smile. Looking at her wristbands, you can tell that there's one that she doesn't ever take off, not even to bathe or sleep, and she has one to tie her hair up in case it gets windy or hot or she gets creative. "I think it was really romantic, and hopefull... It was beautiful" Christina adds before she gets back to her book.