Chapter Fourteen

Jace

"Twenty-five chapters," I said as I pressed publish.

That was enough to be considered for the Scribbles Award for Fantasy Romance category. Winning a Scribby was a huge honor.

I had about fifteen chapters or so left to post, depending on how it all shook out. Here I thought I'd had the whole story mapped out, but things were changing. The characters were evolving.

Especially Masrin.

I glanced at my character corkboard where all my notecards with character pictures and descriptions were tacked. Normally it was stored in my closet when I wasn't writing, but I dragged it out to give it another look.

McKenna's yearbook picture was taped to Masrin's card. The evil Masrin. I'd put her picture there because of her darkness, her standoffishness along with the dark clothes, nails, and Goth look, but now...as I got to know her a little, it didn't fit the card anymore.

There was a lot more to McKenna Storm than met the eye and I kind of wanted to keep figuring her out. I leaned back in my desk chair and clasped my hands behind my head, staring at my board.

Sitting beside her at the abandoned schoolhouse flashed through my mind. Her soft hand in mine. The subtle smile that curved her full lips. It was like my own personal smile. One only I got to see. An image of me kissing those lips ignited in my mind and a streak of heat shot down my spine.

McKenna Storm, what are you doing to me?

I shook my head and checked the time on my phone.

I had about thirty minutes to get to school, but now was when the house was quiet. Mom had gotten back from her shift, said, "Hey," then went to bed. Dad had taken Lily to school so it was peaceful around here for once. Nobody in here, no dad asking me about college applications, no Lily climbing all over me... Nice and quiet.

Speaking of which. I clicked on my browser and pulled up an application to the University of Minnesota. I didn't have any intention of going there, but the application would get Dad off my back for a week or two.

I was still leaning toward UW-Parkside, since they had a D2 football team and a creative writing program. I had a few months to man up and tell Dad I wanted nothing to do with the future he had planned for me.

Maybe if I won a Scribby, I'd tell him. Show him that I really did have potential in the writing world.

I finished the application while I downed some cereal and a protein shake. Five minutes to spare before I had to hop in the car.

My phone vibrated consecutively about five times in a row, each notification from Scribbles.

Sweet. People were probably eating up that chapter I'd posted. Comments had been ragging on me that the readers didn't like having to wait for Wednesdays to read the next chapter. But that was the fun of it. One chapter, each Wednesday.

Plus it gave me more time to fine-tune the plot and the characters' arcs.

Hanging with McKenna on Saturday at the abandoned school had really helped with the story. She had great ideas with the dragon and we even hit on adding some trolls and hellhounds. I couldn't wait to hear what people thought of the evil birds scoping out the fallen kingdom's whereabouts. That was genius. She'd brought up the scene at the end of the first Hunger Games movie. I'd read the books, but it had been a while. What about how those dogs are placed in the game to draw everyone together? she'd asked. You should add something similar, but with another goal in mind. If they're looking for the fallen kingdom, the stakes would go way up. Damn if this girl wasn't a freaking genius!

If KOS ever got picked up by a publisher or won the Scribbles contest, I'd give her props for sure.

Then again, everyone thought she wrote it. Hmmm, we'd have to work that out, because if I won the award, there were interviews involved and other publicity things like live social media events.

I skimmed the first few comments and they were raving about the evil birds.

"Yes!" I dropped my phone in my back pocket and booked it to my Outlander. I revved the engine and jetted out of the garage. I wanted to get to school quickly so I could scroll through some of the comments. Interacting with readers was the best part of writing this novel. Sure, some hated it, but most loved it, and it was those comments I looked forward to reading.

I pulled into my assigned parking spot and killed the engine. I had about twenty minutes before I needed to get to class.

FANTASYGIRL1: You said there were going to be hellhounds in today's update. Instead we got evil birds? I'm not complaining, but, what's up with that?

ILIKEBIGBOOKSANDICANNOTLIE: You can't leave us hanging like this, @WriteEmHard!!!!

FANTASYREADER: Masrin is a Gutter Girl! She's evil!

JarrenIsMine: UPDATE!!!

IAmMasrin: My name is Masrin! For real! I literally screamed the first time I read this story!

I chuckled out loud at the name Gutter Girl. That name had been popping up in the comments lately. It was pretty accurate, since she found the metal for the sword in a gutter on the outskirts of the kingdom. The metal being used to create the sword that would kill Prince Jarren.

Wait a second. Hellhounds?

I scrolled up to that comment again. Hellhounds? McKenna and I had talked about that, yeah, but we decided today's update would have the evil birds.

PRINCEJARRENSGIRL: Where are the hellhounds we were promised? What happened... You're killing me McKenna.

Okay, those comments had to be from our school readers. Because nobody would have ever heard of that unless they talked with her face-to-face.

"Shit." I opened a text to McKenna.

ME: I can't believe you told people the hellhounds were in this chapter!

Three dots appeared. I could tell McKenna was typing something, but what?

I hopped out of my car, phone still in hand, and glanced around.

Students made their way through the parking lot toward the front of the school. A couple of cars down, Landon Watkins pointed my way and gave me a half-awake nod.

"What's up, man?" I asked.

"Need. Coffee."

"Wicked game-winning goal yesterday."

"Thanks, man." He smiled at me, then kept on walking.

He was a year younger than me and I vaguely remembered when he first started at Twin River Middle School. Mostly because he was quiet and withdrawn, not to mention a little twitchy. But by the time he'd come to the high school, he'd bulked up and was kick-ass on the soccer field.

MCKENNA: You said the hellhounds were today!

ME: No!! That's not for a couple chapters.

ME: The evil birds were in today's update!

MCKENNA: Well how am I supposed to remember?

MCKENNA: Freaking everyone is harassing me! 

MCKENNA: Always asking me things about KOS. 

MCKENNA: I can't keep everything straight! ME: We talked about this on Saturday!

ME: At the abandoned school. Jeez

MCKENNA: Look. I can't remember all this shit.

MCKENNA: Lay off me.

ME: I'm sorry.

This was all kinda new to her. She'd gone overnight from hermit status to one of the most popular people on campus.

ME: Look. Can I bribe you into reading the story? MCKENNA: You're killing me, Swords.

Did she just call me Swords?

ME: For real. We gotta get on the same page. MCKENNA: I can't do this anymore.

My stomach dropped. A flash of pink darted by my car.

"McKenna!" I grabbed my backpack, then slammed the door shut. "McKenna!"

She skidded to a stop next to the car across the aisle from mine. "Dude!" She clutched her chest.

"Sorry." I snatched my bag, then slammed my door shut as she stood there, staring at me.

"Hurry up. We're so late."

"We've got time," I said coming up beside her, keeping us between two SUVs.

"People will see," she sang out, the words dripping with sarcasm.

"No they won't," I said, leaning toward her.

She slouched and a wave of sadness darkened her green eyes.

"Please don't quit." I nudged her hand that was holding the strap of her messenger bag across her chest.

"Dude. Last night was bad. There's just way too much shit going on in my life right now."

"What happened?"

"I can't talk about it right now." Her jaw clenched and she picked at the bag strap that was across her chest.

"Come on, Storm." And here I thought we'd become better friends this past Saturday.

Hell, we'd held hands, opened up about our families... we'd even texted a few times since then, chatting up how her shifts at The Hot Dog Shack went and a few things about KOS, but now...she looked different. Sad.

I hated that she looked sad.

"I'm just tired, Jace. Freaking tired." She slouched, still clutching the strap of her bag, almost like a security blanket or something. No, a shield. Like in KOS, the shields were used for protection from swords and arrows.

"What happened?" I rested my hand on her shoulder. She fastened her focus on my hand and I went to pull it away. Before I got too far, though, she snatched it up.

"Sorry...your bubble."

"It's fine," she whispered. "I... It's nice."

I squeezed her hand gently and inched closer, willing her the courage, or whatever she needed, to tell me what was going on. I wanted to know. I wanted to help. A breeze shifted around the cars and it carried a hint of rain mixed with some flowers.

I leaned forward slightly and breathed it in. It was McKenna. What a unique scent. Subtle, but there. As much as she worked at The Hot Dog Shack, I figured she'd have food smell in everything she wore, but she didn't. No. She smelled awesome.

Tempting.

She looked up into my eyes and held my focus. The rest of the parking lot faded away. Right now it was just McKenna and me. Right here. Right now. I was holding her hand and I was exactly where I needed to be.

"My mom...she had a rough night."

"What happened?"

She drew in a breath and slowly closed her eyes, then looked up at me again. "Are you sure you really want to know?"

I nodded. I could tell it was upsetting her, whatever happened with her mom. I knew that when Dad and I argued, I never felt great the next day. Could that be it?

"She broke all our dishes."

Whoa. Not going to lie, that wasn't what I was expecting. At all. A rush of anxiety flooded my stomach and the hairs on my neck raised. I wasn't really sure how to respond to that. But I knew however I did, McKenna would be watching me, closely. "Are you okay? Did she get hurt?"

McKenna let out a breath, almost as if in a sigh of relief. So maybe I'd responded the way she needed me to. That made my chest swell. She needed someone in her life who was there for her, no matter what. I could be that person. I wanted her to trust me. Maybe I could help.

"No. I mean, nothing major. I—she—I just got her to sleep a couple hours ago."

I wondered how McKenna did it, but I didn't ask. I wanted to be here for her. Somehow. If she'd let me.

"Which means you just got to sleep a couple hours ago," I said.

"That'd be a no. I had to...clean up." She gave my hand a squeeze, then let go. "And I have a computer coding quiz I need to cram for."

"I'll buy coffee." I smiled, willing her some of my energy. I had no idea things were this bad for her. Her mom broke all their dishes? Why would someone even do that? It didn't make sense. But at least McKenna wasn't hurt.

"That's okay, I'm good." She glanced around, then focused on me again. "But I'm sorry, Jace. I—I can't cover for you anymore."

**********

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