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!

|| Featured FREE story with exclusive paid chapters - previously a paid story || When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time. ***** Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears. [[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]] Cover designed by Holly Thurston

Abbie has never been what one would call a typical lady. Trying to keep up with England's rich and powerful is far too much work, and Abbie has never enjoyed the endless games of chasing acknowledgement form her peers. When she's engaged rather unwillingly to the wealthiest lord in London, she knows without a doubt it will be the worst thing she'll ever face. So what does she do? She runs. Finn has been roaming the seas as a pirate aboard The Iron Lady for ten years. Since the death of his father, he's been pirating to provide for his mother, sister, and her two children--all the while unbeknownst to them. While there have been a number of heists that have ended favorably, their poor condition has changed little. Finn wearies of life at sea, and begins thinking about leaving the business to return home to Ireland for good. When he kidnaps a businessman's teenage daughter, he is absolutely certain that the ransom payoff will be the one to end his career as a pirate. Abbie has always thought that pirates are uneducated, cruel, and just plain terrible company. Finn is certain that rich girls are snobby and selfish and is dreading spending any time with one aboard the ship. But when their journey together begins, they find that their expectations might be entirely incorrect. With the voyage of The Iron Lady spanning the globe from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, from the Iberian Peninsula to England, neither lady nor pirate will be able to resist the adventure--and romance--that will come along with it.

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