Open Novella Contest 2023 #ONC2023 SHORTLISTER Prompt #49: "Master the rules of the game until you can play it better than they can." ― Michael Scott, The Sorceress Who says that youth, beauty, money and privilege don't come with a price? When a group of friends, from a London's elite secondary school, are forced to spend four days together on a separate floor in a hotel in the Italian Alps, none of them expect what is about to happen. One falls in love. But also finds that true love can hurt. Two discover their bodies together for the first time. Three find out that three, indeed, is a crowd. Four learn how to play poker. Only five go back together. But all six will never be the same... Come with Lydia, Alex, Gloria, Mark, Nate and Patrick on the trip that started it all. #1 #itsalwaysbeenyou February 2023

Mallory finds herself brokenhearted when she loses the love of her life in a tragic accident. She's left to pick up the pieces of her life with the help of her best friend, Kendall. Her job as a neonatal nurse helps to keep her mind off of her broken heart when something unexpected happens; she comes face to face with Dr. Samuel Daniels. Will she find love again, or will her grief blind her from her second chance at love and happiness? *** "Kendall is under the illusion that you're in love with me. Can you believe that? I just buried my fiancé seven months ago. She told me not to be blinded by my grief, not to see that you love me," I sigh. I notice Sam lower his head. "I'm guessing that must have pissed you off." "It did! I don't want her to ruin the friendship that we have. I like how we are. You throw the love word in there, and it freaks me out." I fight back my tears. Sam raises his head to look at me. "Listen, Mallory. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. Please don't let other people's observations of our relationship mess that up, okay?" *** 1st Place in The Candy Cane Awards 🥇 2nd Place in the 2020 Universal Awards 🥈 2nd Place in the Books and Beyond Awards 🥈

COMPLETED✅ Two high school teenagers finding themselves, analyzing this ever changing world, and building love. This is the type of love you wish you found in high school but probably know way too well that it only exists as fiction. Today I'm turning my fiction to reality. ❣️•••❣️ Excerpt: Just as I was about to seek shelter under some building's roof, the tires of a car come to a halt, I wonder who might pity the lonely girl walking in the rain. The passenger window rolls down, and I spot the most unexpected person seated behind the wheel. "Get in" comes out his voice, and I must've stood there agape for a few moments because next comes his rhetorical question. "Are you getting in or continuing walking in the rain?" Eyebrows raised expectantly. He sounds annoyed, like he regrets his decision to ever stop and help me. ❣️•••❣️ #5 in cynical #2 in loveandfriendship #1 in opinionated #4 in ihatelife #10 in nerdgirl #10 in HighschoolRomance #26 in GoodGirlBadBoy *contains mature themes. *contains cursing.

***EXCERPT ONLY*** He is Captain of the football team. Most popular Guy in school. Can get any girl he wants. Next in line to be Alpha. Logan's not ready for a mate, he was enjoying his easy life, but all that is about to change when the new girl turns up at school. She's grieving the death of her parents. Moved to a new town. New School. Her plan is to blend in and just get through the year Life can be much harder when you don't always get what you want. Alexia Johnson's life was turned upside down when her parents both died in a car crash, now moving to a new town to live with her aunt she finds out what it's like to be the new girl. The schools Queen Bee seems to have it out for her and the most gorgeous guy she has ever met keeps staring at her but refuses to have a real conversation with her. And the second hottest guy makes it very clear he's interested. Who will she choose, will she follow her head or her heart? Her life is tipped upside down again when she finds that things she always thought to be myths and stories might actually be very real and living in her new home town. And they are coming for her. PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BOOK IS NOW PUBLISHED AND OUT TO BUY ON AMAZON AS AN EBOOK OR IN PAPERBACK IN A TWO PART SERIES. RIVER FALLS - THE WOLVES RIVER FALLS - THE ROGUES THANK YOU

Mia Thompson. She's a freshman at Duke University. Since her father's life makes her sorta famous... so she's had fake friends, media attention, but all she wants is some real friends and a good first year at college. Majoring in physical therapy has always been her dream and part of her passion, but can she do it? Will she survive the first year of vigorous work, or will she fail all her classes in the first semester? Will she fall in love with someone new, or end up brokenhearted from the boy that she thought was her forever? Nate Jackson. He's a sophomore at Duke University, and the Point Guard of the Blue Devils Basketball Team. Things may be changing in his life, but will his reputation and career get in the way of falling in love with the only girl he's ever had feelings for? Will he end up loving her? ***PSA: The pictures in this book aren't mine!!*** TW: this book contains sensitive themes

| COMPLETE | [this is the first draft of my story. so, if there's grammatical mistakes and continuity errors, i apologize and i will be editing in the future.] Lia James was living in a nightmare. It all started one night, when her mother was in a car accident, and never survived the night. She spent the remainder of the summer in mourning. She never ate, or left her bedroom for that matter. When her Dad started to notice the new habits, he suddenly became worried and requests she lives with her two best friends for her senior year across the country. Hesitantly, she accepts. Senior year was supposed to be the best year of her life. She made the Varsity Softball team, and she made tons and tons of new friends. That is, until she comes across Andrew Price: Local bad boy with a well-known reputation, and a heavy bank account. From leather jackets, to secrets, to new relationships, Lia finally comes to terms that her senior year will never be normal. Especially when her best friends and Andrew have a very public hatred towards each other. Will she manage to stay above the drama? Or will she fall into the crossfire of her best friend's feud? ************** STARTED: 8/30/18 ENDED: 1/17/21 RANKS: #6- projectbadboys 2/12/20 #16 - heartstrings 1/17/19

"Why do you always avoid my questions?" "I'm not, it's just that there's nothing to say. Who would ever want to date someone they can't even talk to? It's not rocket science. My eyes are weird, and people get tired of me eventually. There's your one-page essay. Now please don't snow me to death .-." "What? All that you just said is a lie. And I should snow you to death for even saying that! I would definitely date you." "...Thanks." 🍒｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡🍓｡･ﾟ♡ﾟ･｡ Dallas Addison had it all; being a talented swimmer and dating the star of the football team, she didn't think she lacked anything in any capacity. Sure, she and her boyfriend had minuscule issues, but which logical relationship didn't have their occasional ups and downs? After landing in Extra Credit class due to a series of mishaps with her grades and attendance, Dallas's turmoil became despair when she became paired with one of the most eccentric people in the entire class. Seriously. Who wore sunglasses to school, much less indoors? When weeks turned into months of working together, series of back-and-forth message threads started to hit closer and closer to home. Suddenly, Dallas realized that maybe her life wasn't as idyllic as she was previously led to believe. || Completed 2023 ✔️ || ©ReeseTory2022

"with two shitty jobs each, they finally made just enough to rent out a one bedroom apartment in a greasy town in the middle of nowhere. at twenty one years old, both used to dream of financial stability and the satisfaction of being away from home as adults. and then they woke up." the sweet satisfaction of fast, euphoric moments, where the adrenaline pumps and the passion within you burns in a welcoming warmth. those are the glimpses in life that reveal the bare truth of your deepest desires- in momentary bliss. following two women matched together in fate, experience the reality of love, friendship, sex, chaos, disharmony, and despair whilst realizing their dependency on one another. in finally moving out and being responsible on their own, can they survive through hell once again on their own? and, what will momentary bliss reveal in the desires of natalia dreyfus and blue veradin? by altuniverses - a 2020 teen fiction novel

This is a real, love story. By real, I mean it's a frustrating story. I promise you this: it's definitely not like the love stories by Nicholas Sparks, where the guy always gets the girl, or vice versa. You know what I'm talking about, right? He always writes those beautiful, attractive stories, where the guy falls in accidental, deep love with the girl, experiencing some small tragedy that breaks the heart of every reader. Any way, the point is that this story is nothing like that. Nope, that is just not me. This is the story of an average girl who attends an average college and who shares the average anxieties of every other individual. Yes, she falls in love with a guy, but she'll never admit that to anyone, especially not herself. This is the story of her modern love, of sex and inevitable attachment, of fast falling and easy emotion, and of overthinking and unanswered questions. It's a story that I'm sure everyone can relate to in one way or another. It all happens in 34 short days. She meets a guy, who ultimately leaves her with more questions than answers, but I suppose that is half of the allure. If you want a taste of the real world, of a love affair and self discovery from beginning to end, here it is. Be warned: what happens is pretty shitty.

"I need you to be the put together one because I'm so fucked up. You've saved me." He whispers. "Carter, we saved each other." I mutter looking at him through my eyelashes. I lean into him, our lips not even an inch apart. "Sophia we shouldn't..." He looks hesitant. "Please, I need you." I almost started crying. "Please." I mutter one more time, my eyes begging for him. My body needing him. Sophia Carrington. She just moved from New York to California in search of a new life. When her life took a dark turn she's forced to leave everything behind. She just wants to finish her final year of high school, numb to the world, while learning to cope with the trauma she's endured. Carter Marquez. Newly single after being dumped by his girlfriend of two years. After losing his dad in a car accident he's fallen apart. The list of people he trusts is short, he hates letting people in. He's constantly trying to make up for his mistakes of the past, trying to find a new purpose in life. When the two of them collided, they instantly took a mutual disliking to each other. Misunderstandings and a dash of alcohol set a flame between them. Sophia hates the snarky remarks and stupid nicknames that leave his mouth. Carter thinks Sophia is just another trust fund brat. Soon their rivalry begins to dissolve and they learn that sharing the pain of their past can form connections they never thought to be possible. WARNING: This story contains mature topics such as sexual assault and drug addiction. Read with caution. Copyright © by lulustoriesss 2021