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!

𝗙𝗶𝗮𝗱𝗵 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗼𝗴𝘂𝗲 prefers not to interact with the 'popular' crowd. She has never wanted to befriend any of them. Fiadh confides in her one and only friend. Apart from being pessimistic Fiadh is fine in school. She's got good grades and behaves well. She also loves playing guitar. Music is her life. Her existence was simple and that was enough for her. 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵 has been shoved into a life she never wanted, forced to care about appearances and status. She never asked for any of it, but who was she to complain when others had it worse? Responsible for her younger brother Sean due to her emotionally absent mother, independence was all she knew. Lonnie had always tried her best to shield Sean from their mother's cruel words. Lonnie didn't need help, she was doing just fine on her own. She had been cooking, cleaning, and nurturing for ages. She had been mothering. What happens when Lonnie moves to Fiadh's school? Lonnie had already known most of the people at St Joseph's since she had gone to school with them when they were kids. Lonnie quickly gets sucked back into the popular group and unwillingly pulled into their gossip and drama. Fiadh considered Lonnie to be just another stuck-up popular girl. Is there more to the Lonnie than she thought? -------------------- 𝗧𝗪: -Verbal abuse (Parental) -Suicidal thoughts -Anxiety depictions -Self hate -Physical violence/agression -Cursing (A lot of it.) -------------------- This story contains dual POV. (Written in past-tense) 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱: December 27th, 2024