JamarStRogers
It's the Pacific Coast Highway all over again. His car parked by the ocean, us in the backseat, bodies pressed together, the waves crashing in the background, the night air thick with salt and magic. My lips on his like I was drowning and he was the air. His hand on my jaw, pulling me closer, like he could keep me forever if he just held tight enough.
But forever ended three months ago.
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Three months ago, Press Gregor was the most popular mage influencer at Vale College. He had the brand deals, the enchanted content and the boyfriend everyone envied.
Then came that stupid garden party.
Now Press can't remember what happened that day. All he knows is that his magic combusted, taking his reputation with it. And Mateo, the boy he loves, won't even look at him anymore.
Fresh out of magical rehab, Press is forced to live under the watch of Dr. Alana Santos, the most powerful Arcanist on the West Coast. She also happens to be his ex-boyfriend's mother. Oh yeah, and she's the same woman who made Mateo break up with him.
Living fifty feet from Mateo and pretending he feels nothing is its own kind of torture. But when a blackmailer gives Press seven days to leave Caldera Heights or they leak footage of his combustion to the blogs, he realizes the day that ruined him might not have been his fault. Someone wanted him gone.
Someone may have even cursed him.
Now Press has one week to clear his name, uncover the truth and figure out if the boy who broke his heart might take him back. The closer he gets to the truth, the more dangerous his questions become.
Because whoever did this to him is still watching.
2026 Open Novella Contest.
Based on the prompts "After being cursed, you go from being the most popular socialite to becoming a nobody" and "You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems".
Updates weekly.