Realistcfiction Stories

Esme and Matt can't stand each other, even if they have to play nice for the cameras. As public speculation about their chemistry heats up, they're forced to confront what's real versus what's just for show. ***** Esme Mendoza is everything Matt Crain isn't--polished, optimistic, and proud of her golden girl image. He's brooding, arrogant, and impossible to work with. As co-stars in an indie romance film, they're forced to act like soulmates on screen while barely tolerating each other behind the scenes. When their banter and lingering stares spark fan speculation during the press tour, their PR teams jump on the opportunity, but Esme and Matt aren't too thrilled. Suddenly, they're everywhere--public appearances, exchanging snarky remarks in interviews, and fueling endless rumors. As their forced chemistry starts to feel a little too real, Esme and Matt are left questioning: are they just playing a role, or could this be end game? ***** WARM HANDS #1 Open Novella Contest -- prompts 45 & 127 [[OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST 2025 ROUND 2 AMBASSADORS' PICK]] © 2025 caterina george // all rights reserved

"I'm not good for you." "I know." "I don't do emotions." "I know." "I am emotionally cut off Kieran." "I know that." "So then why the hell do you want me?!" A tear streamed down her face and it felt like my world had crumbled. Seeing her hurt and full of pain made me feel it too. I loved her in a way I couldn't comprehend. "Because I am madly in love and obsessed with you Naja Woods."

Two best friends agree to date out of convenience to get rid of lingering feelings about their exes, until they actually start developing feelings for each other. What could go wrong? [ extended synopsis inside ] copyright ©️ peonyjoo 2026

Life is like a rollercoaster, it has its ups and downs, but it's your choice whether to scream or enjoy the ride... When life's rollercoaster throws you off track, do you scream, or do you hold on tight? For Ira and Rudraksh, the journey is far from smooth: one suffocating under the weight of failure, the other nursing a heart shattered into pieces. Two strangers caught in life's ugliest turns, where every step forward is a fight against invisible battles. This is not a story of being saved by each other, but of learning to live despite the wreckage, of finding the courage to stand when the ground never stops shaking. But if their paths converge-bringing their emotions and differences-will they find solace in each other, or will those very differences pull them apart? ✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️✨️ GENRES: General Fiction • Literary Fiction • Contemporary • New Adult • Realistic Fiction ⚠️ Disclaimer: This story is a work of imagination, entirely original and fictional. Any resemblance to other works is purely coincidental. Please do not plagiarize, copy, or translate it without the author's (Jambudweep's) written permission. ⚠️ Ownership: All characters, plot, dialogues, poetry, and storyline belong to me, the author. I do not own any images or songs used; they belong to their respective owners. ⚠️ Content Warning: This story contains emotionally heavy and socially sensitive themes. I experience alexithymia, which means I may not always recognize or describe emotions in the usual way. Because of this, I cannot guarantee advance warnings for every scene. Please read at your own discretion and take care of your wellbeing. Thank you for checking out my work!

On New Year's night, Noor is assigned a psychological evaluation that is meant to end with a report. Ishaan, a corporate decision-maker under review, is not looking for understanding-only judgement. What begins as a professional assessment slowly unfolds into something more difficult to measure. As conversations deepen and silences grow heavier, both are forced to confront responsibility, restraint, and the quiet cost of the choices they live with. The Evaluation is a slow-burn story about ethics, unspoken emotion, and what happens when professional distance is tested.

By twenty-five, you're supposed to have either a husband or an explanation. I have neither. My name is Abhilasha. It means desire in Sanskrit. This has aged badly. I am twenty-five and not married, which means every achievement I have is now considered a hobby. Something I'm doing until my real life arrives-with a photographer and too many relatives. In my house, age is not a number. It is a reminder. Repeated. Daily. Casually. My mother doesn't ask why I'm not married anymore. She sighs. Like I've forgotten something important at the grocery store. "We just want you to be settled," she says- the way people talk about gas cylinders. This is not a story about marriage. It's about a woman learning that her life does not begin with a wedding.

"A promise is not meant to be broken." Ira Sharma is twenty - fragile but fierce, a girl learning to breathe through the noise of Delhi and the weight of her own silence. Aarush Mehra is twenty-six - cold, composed, the kind of man who has everything yet feels nothing. They meet by accident. Two strangers, tied only by mutual friends and bad timing. She's chaos wrapped in warmth. He's order built on walls of ice. In a world that romanticizes perfect beginnings, theirs starts with indifference - not chemistry. Not connection. Just a café, a storm outside, and two hearts that refuse to sync. But life has a way of making opposites collide. And sometimes, the people we're meant to forget are the ones who end up haunting our quietest thoughts. A story about distance, silence, and the fragile beauty of strangers who were never meant to understand each other. -NYX

A brave girl trying to escape a home full of fear and control A real and emotional story A strong story about fighting to survive and find herself For readers who like honest and powerful stories A story you won't forget after reading (English isn't my first Languge, sorry if I'm making mistakes)

Alice loses her voice the night her house burns down. What she loses next is harder to name. Separated from her sisters and placed in a foster home where everything smells like lavender and order, Alice learns that survival doesn't always look brave-and that silence can be both a shield and a cage. As her family is scattered across hospitals, homes, and systems that promise to help, Alice draws, listens, and holds onto the stars that once kept them together. Silver Curl is a story about grief, foster care, disability, and the quiet ways love survives when nothing else feels steady. A broken constellation is still a constellation.

Having always dreamt of a lovey-dovey marriage when older, Bilal never realized teenage fantasies were nothing more than lies dressed as ambition. Back in SS3, he had it all mapped out: graduate, move out of his parents' house after college, land a great job, climb the corporate ladder, buy a car and a house, marry a beautiful woman, have two kids who would someday inherit his wealth and pamper him when he hit forty. That was the goal. HIS ULTIMATE PLAN. Sadly, barely any of it came true. He lost his job-twice. Never moved out of his parents' house. Has no girlfriend, no money, and no grand career to boast of. Just a NEET feeding off his parents like a child. A loser, by all accounts. And yet, somehow, he still got a wife. Not out of romance, but out of suggestion. A proposal, not of love but of business. "Marry my daughter," they told him, "and you'll get a high spot in my company." For Bilal, it looked like most of his dreams were being handed to him on a platter. That daughter was Yusrah. She was not the bubbly, lovey-dovey kind of girl his SS3 self used to daydream about. Yusrah was quiet. Blunt. Introverted to the bone. She wore a permanent expression that made people uneasy, as if she were silently judging the world. Words didn't come easy for her, and emotions stayed locked somewhere deep inside. But that wasn't what made her a shut-in. Her world had closed in long before him-sealed off by a trauma no one saw coming. Now Bilal, the self-proclaimed loser with borrowed dreams, and Yusrah, the woman who hides from the world, find themselves bound in a marriage that is anything but ordinary. Together, they must learn whether love can exist not in the open streets, but behind closed doors.

--- What We Didn't Say "Some people don't leave. They just linger-in glances, in silences, in things we never dared to say." After losing her mother, Orilla wasn't prepared to notice anyone. But then Eli walked into the house, into her space, into her head-and never really left. He wasn't loud. He didn't even look at her the first time. But somehow, he stayed. Now every encounter feels like a question. A touch too gentle. A gaze too long. And a story that might never be said out loud. A quiet, slow-burn romance about timing, tension, and all the things we never dared to speak. ---

He was never meant to be my husband ~ Natasha 《♡》 She was born to be my wife ~ Shaurya

Isabella Vega came to New York chasing a dream - but life pushed her into choices she never imagined. Between the weight of poverty, the loss of her father, and the temptation of an easy escape, she stands at the edge of her own risk. When Jack Sullivan, a kind stranger with hidden depth, steps into her life, their worlds collide in ways neither expected. In this story, you'll witness the struggle, the pain, and the quiet courage of a woman who dared to risk everything - just to find herself again.

"Being with you is as natural as breathing, it happens effortlessly, and it's the easiest thing I've ever done." One Decade Older finds Daya returning to her coastal hometown for a wedding, where the past resurfaces with a vengeance. Ten years have passed, and Daya, now accompanied by a new boyfriend, must face Jay, her first love, and Banks, the one who always held a piece of her heart. As the wedding of her best friends Michy and Brian unfolds at a picturesque villa, old flames reignite, and Daya is caught in the middle between her present and her past. Daya must navigate the treacherous waters of love and make a choice that will define her future. This final chapter in the trilogy is a journey of heartache, growth, and the enduring power of first loves. Book 3 in the One Week Older Series

When she was young, she had been bullied. When she grows up, she starts to have a hard time loving herself. Yet she survives. Perhaps thanks to her best friend. But... hmm. He's the same in her eyes, yet... [Deals with bad people, eating disorder, and slight abuse]

Sable Travingdale hates summer. And summer seems to hate her back. Between floods, grief, and ghosted friendships (literally and hypothetically), every summer feels like a rerun of something she didn't ask for. But this year, she's enrolled in summer classes at Bluegrass Valley Community College. Partially to avoid her house, mostly to prove to summer that she'll keep fighting it. There, she meets Nova: a plant-obsessed chaos engine with quirks for hobbies and a jungle for an apartment. Alongside Elowen: quiet, observant, possibly psychic; and Jesse Moore, the boy she remembers too well, who doesn't seem to remember her at all. But memory has sharp edges. And when Jesse starts showing up more often: annoying, chatty, and completely unaware, Sable is forced to confront what it means to be remembered wrong... or not at all, all while being pulled into a summer of playlists, plants, and emotional detours. Even then, summer keeps dragging her in. Hope you brought your boots, 'cause it's gonna be a messy summer!

The Nassar house is loud, chaotic, and always on the edge of boiling over. Four brothers growing up in the heat of eastern Washington-fighting, bonding, messing up, holding on. They don't always get along. They don't always understand each other. But they're all they've got. A story about love that bites, loyalty that hurts, and the messy, complicated way brothers survive each other.

She became his favorite sketch, even if he could never finish her. When Noah met Ira, it wasn't love at first sight--it was quiet admiration, the kind that grows between shared silences and unspoken thoughts. He drew her in lines and shadows, never realizing she would also leave marks he could never erase. In a world that kept pulling them in different directions, their story remained like his sketch--beautiful, but unfinished.

"A part of me has always wanted to be punished, to experience pain at its highest degree, and to be ripped apart in every way possible for surviving the crash. But I was stupid for not knowing the extent of that wish; for not knowing that pain isn't always sharp and fleeting, bloody and easily relived. Except, It's well-orchestrated and cunning, unexpected and permanently disabling. It's mental and emotional turmoil, Love in its darkest, ugliest of forms.... and for someone who you never thought capable of inflicting it, it is the sweetest form of revenge. They say love makes you do crazy things, but trauma--trauma is one hell of a bitch." --A.J. *********** Brown Sugar X Euphoria. Twenty-one-year-old Alaina Joseph is undeniably lost after surviving a fatal car crash that leaves her fatherless. With two of the most important men in her life fighting for her attention, her survivors' guilt eating away at her, and the surmounting pressure of being a college junior...what will happen once she finds out her past is very much present, and out to get her? *********** An honest, raw, poetic tale of Descension.

[Disclaimer: This book is a first draft and is currently on hold as it's in the process of transitioning to a full novel.] How many friends do you have? When a stray thought forces Will Marte to notice the oddities in his everyday life, what follows is a reflection on the friendly relationships he has and had and a contemplation on the question: what is a friend? Having had an unconventional upbringing, he still feels its effects as an adult. Now, everyone around him is aging normally in their conventional life, and he doesn't know how to be rather than to seem. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Published in February 2024 for Open Novella Contest 2024 Copyright © by CrownedMadness (Maddy Alson) 2024