Hi everyone! I'm so happy that you've decided to join me on another writing journey, this time with Fate Reloaded! As always, I appreciate the love and support. Even when my projects are a little more, well...out there. This is one of those books. It's unlike anything you've ever read before, but I know you're up for the challenge!
Fate Reloaded came about when I was asked by a friend whether I believed in fate or free will. I told her that I believed in a little bit of both. I think there are certain things that are fated to happen in life: a volcano errupts, floods happen, a person dies. But we also have some control over our own destiny's. Because, depending on the decisions we make, our lives may be impacted by those fated events. If you decide to go out of town the weekend the flood hits, you're in the clear, but what if you decided to stay home? How would your life be different then? All because of one seemingly small choice.
That's what Fate Reloaded is about. How those small decisions can impact the rest of your life. In the book, our main character, Jordana Kane, has to decide whether to go to the movies with her friends. Not a big deal, right? Well, for Jordana, whatever she chooses, her life's going to change...drastically. So, in this book, there are four different stories. The only thing that actually happens for certain is the first chapter. After that, you'll get a look at what would happen to Jordana after she makes the decision to go or not.
That's right. Four books in one! And they're all different genres (don't worry, they all have a little bit of romance in them!), so there's a little something for everyone. I hope you like the book and please don't hesitate to leave your comments below!
Thanks again and I'll be seeing you back here every Saturday!
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Chapter One
“Jordana, you got anything in your kitchen besides tofu and brussel sprouts?” Sarafina Radford asked as she rifled through the cabinets in the kitchen.
Jordana Kane turned on the radio in her living room and then headed toward the back of her house. Once there, she watched as her friend Sara opened and closed the cabinets and then moved on to the fridge. Before Sara could open up the freezer, Jordana had crossed the room, a bag of chips in hand.
“Here you go,” Jordana said with a smile.
Sara examined the bag, and after a moment, ripped the top open. Shoving a handful of nacho cheesy goodness into her mouth, Sara added, “I don’t know how you can stand all that health-food crap your mom keeps around here.”
Grabbing a banana from the fruit basket on the counter, Jordana followed Sara back into her living room, where her friends Desi Marsden, Kaleigh Sherwin and Melina Wynne were all dancing around to the now blaring radio.
“I mean, it’s no wonder you’re such a twig,” Sara shouted with her mouth full, as she collapsed backward onto the couch.
“It’s not that bad,” Jordana said, peeling her banana and taking a bite. “My mom gets junk food every once in a while. You know, whenever I get sick of the other stuff.”
This wasn’t exactly true. Jordana actually quite liked the health-food kick her family had been on for the past few years. And it was her mom who made sure there was an ample supply of chips and cookies in the house, for those times when she herself needed a little sugar. But she wasn’t about to admit this to Sara and the others.
“All I’m saying is that I’d die if I had to eat like a rabbit,” Sara said, taking another handful of chips and then passing them around to the others.
Jordana just shrugged as she sat down on the edge of an armchair.
Once again, Jordana and her friends had ended up back at her place after school let out. Sara and Melina lived a few miles away from school and Kaleigh and Desi’s moms were always home after school, so the group often congregated at Jordana’s house since her parents were never home until dinner time and she lived just a few blocks away from the high school. She didn’t really mind much—after all, they were her friends.
Jordana started to laugh as she watched her best friend Desi jump up onto the coffee table and start to shake her butt to the rump shaker song that had just come on the radio. “I love booty music,” Desi screamed above the noise.
“That’s because you’ve got enough booty to shake around,” Sara offered from her place on the couch.
Desi turned her back on Sara and shook her butt in her direction. “Then you should really love this kind of music,” Desi said, looking back at Sara with a smirk.
“You did NOT just say that,” Sara said, her mouth hanging open in mock shock. Then, jumping up from the couch, Sara walked over to the full-length mirror in the far corner of the room and checked out her derriere. “I so do not have a big butt!”
“Whatever, Sara,” Desi said, still dancing on the coffee table. She looked over at Jordana and winked at her and then motioned for her to join her onstage. Jordana took another bite of her banana and then jumped up onto the table beside her friend. Using the banana as a fake mic, Jordana began to recite the words of the song, as if she were the rapper on the radio and jokingly smacked at Desi’s butt.
When the song ended, they all collapsed, giggling and Jordana turned the music down a bit.
“So, what’s the deal with tomorrow?” Kaleigh said to no one in particular. She was busy painting Melina’s fingernails a shade of red called “Vampy” and didn’t bother looking up as she addressed the room. “It’s Friday and so far, we’ve got no plans.”
“Well, I heard in first period today that Eddie Moon is having a party,” Melina suggested.
Sara snorted. “Yeah, right. You know he’ll get a keg and it’ll be empty before anyone even gets there,” she said. “Besides, do we really want to hang around a bunch of drunken, loser underclassmen?”
They all shook their heads in agreement and were again quiet as they each thought of other suggestions.
“We could go to the movies,” Desi said finally. “That new Vince Vaughn movie’s playing and I heard it’s freaking hilarious.”
This time Kaleigh looked up to chime in. “Already saw it last weekend,” she said. “How about that new horror flick. What’s-it-called? Like, Blood, Guts and Fears, or something like that?”
“Yeah, and then we could invite the guys, and like, grab onto them during the scary parts,” said Melina excitedly. “I’ve been waiting for the chance to get my hands on Noe Valentine.” She sighed dramatically and then fell backward onto the floor as if fainting.
“Okay Lindsay Lohan, enough with the dramatics,” Sara said, rolling her eyes.
But after a pause, a smile spread across Sara’s face. Jordana couldn’t help but think that she looked eerily similar to the Grinch that stole Christmas, right at the moment when he decides to steal all the presents from the Whos down in Whoville.
Okay, can we say creepy? Jordana thought to herself.
And just like that, the smile was gone.
“I guess if that’s all that we have to choose from, it’s not too bad,” Sara said leaning back against the couch and examining her fingernails. “And I guess it could be fun to have the guys tag along.”
Melina beamed as if she’d come up with the idea of the millennium, and Desi glanced over at Jordana with a questioning look.
Jordana didn’t want to ask the question, but she knew there was no getting around it. “What’s it rated?” Jordana asked as nonchalantly as she could.
“Probably ‘R’ since it’s a slasher film,” Sara answered. Then Sara turned her attention to Jordana and stared at her inquisitively. “Why? Is that a problem?”
“Nah,” Jordana answered quickly. “Just curious.”
Jordana could feel Sara still staring at her, even though she was now looking down at her lap.
“Well, now that that’s settled,” Sara said, getting up from the couch. “I gotta rocket, guys. Mom and Dad will have my ass if I’m not back in time for family fun night.”
She stuck her tongue out as she said this and then looked at the rest of them. Melina and Kaleigh immediately got up from their places on the floor and brushed off their pants.
“We better get home, too,” Kaleigh said, picking up her school bag and following the others to the door.
“Thanks for having us,” Melina called to Jordana and then bounced out the door.
Jordana waved at them and Desi blew them each a kiss as they headed out.
“See you guys tomorrow,” Sara said, before closing the door behind her.
As soon as they were gone, Jordana picked up the nearly empty bag of chips and brought it back into the kitchen. She tossed the bag into the trash, while Desi hopped up and sat down on the counter. Jordana counted as five seconds passed before Desi cleared her throat and started talking.
“So, how do you plan on going to this rated ‘R’ slasher fest tomorrow night?” Desi asked pointedly. “I didn’t realize that The Judge had lifted the movie ban yet.”
Desi of course, was talking about Jordana’s dad, who they had taken to jokingly calling him, “The Judge” whenever he wasn’t around to hear it. The nickname wasn’t so much of a stretch, as her dad was a judge in their town and was also as strict as they came—in and outside of the courtroom. And Desi knew that The Judge wouldn’t allow his 15-year-old daughter to see a rated “R” movie a day before she turned 17.
Jordana had tried to talk her dad out of this absurd rule, but every time she asked, she got the same answer: No way. She knew this time wouldn’t be any different.
“No, he hasn’t budged on the movie thing yet,” Jordana said sarcastically. “But I couldn’t exactly tell them that, could I?”
Desi shook her head, understanding what Jordana was saying. The rest of their friends were cool, but they both knew that Jordana would never hear the end of it if they ever found out. “So, what are you going to do?” she asked Jordana.
“Don’t know,” Jordana answered honestly. “I mean, I could always just not tell the ‘rents that I’m going, and go anyway. Or maybe I’ll just hang around here.” She looked around her kitchen as she said this and then looked back at Desi.
“I can bail on the movie too if you want,” Desi offered sympathetically.
Jordana appreciated the offer, but she knew that Desi hated staying in on Friday nights about as much as Jordana hated Jennifer Lopez’s acting—and singing—skills. She smiled at her friend, and then shook her head.
“No way. I know you love a good creepfest,” she said. Then acting as if she were feeling way more perky than she was, she added, “Besides, maybe The Judge will change his mind and let me go.”
Desi cocked her head and rolled her eyes at Jordana. “The day The Judge gives in on anything will be the day I cut my hair into a mullet. It’s never going to happen,” she said, hopping off the counter. Jordana couldn’t help but laugh. Desi hated mullets with a passion on account of them being, in her words, “unnatural.”
“Okay, okay,” Jordana said, following Desi back into the living room and watching her put on her backpack. “Let me figure something out and I’ll let you know what’s up tomorrow, okay?”
“Sounds good,” Desi said as she made her way to the door. She paused before opening the door though and shuddered.
“What’s wrong?” Jordana asked.
Desi looked back with a dead-serious look on her face. “I was just picturing myself with a mullet. So disturbing!”
Jordana laughed as she watched Desi disappear behind the closing door.
* * * *
Jordana thought about what she should do about the movie thing, while she set the table for dinner that night. It’s not like she was jonesing to see Blood, Guts and Fears or anything. In fact, ordinarily, she would have just told the girls she had other plans, if it weren’t for one thing.
Billy Thorpe may be there.
Jordana had been crushing on Billy Thorpe ever since she’d seen him running around on the football field their freshman year. When she first saw his face and mussed up hair dripping with sweat (and didn’t gag at the grossness of his disgusting boy sweat), she knew it was love.
Billy and his entourage of buddies, which included Noe Valentine (pronounced like Joey, but with an N; Jordana still questioned whether his parents were on something when they named him) and Kurt Dennison, had sort of teamed up with their group of girls, to make one mega-group at school.
They weren’t exactly on the “A-list”—that status was reserved for the senior crowd—but they weren’t exactly unfortunate in the popularity department either. Their group was a mixture of student athletes, preps, well-to-do kids, and average everydayers.
And although Jordana had hung out with Billy nearly every day since their first day of high school, she had yet to let him know just how much she liked him. Lately, she’d just been waiting for the perfect time to tell him, and the more she thought of it, the more she realized that a quiet, dark movie theater might be the perfect setting to take the plunge.
Just as Jordana was daydreaming about Billy reaching for her hand in the movie theater, her mother walked into the room.
“How was school, sweetie,” her mom asked in an overly chipper voice. Her mom owned her own arts and crafts store where people came in to make pottery and paint and stuff. For her mom, it was the perfect environment for her to work on her own art as well as make some extra cash on the side. And whenever Mrs. Kane finished a project she was working on, she came home in a cheerier-than-Santa-on-Christmas-day mood. Tonight, this was a good sign for Jordana.
“School was fine,” she answered, returning her mother’s perkiness. “How was work?”
“Well, I just finished this ceramic bowl that I’ve been working on,” her mom started, obviously excited to talk about her newest piece.
As her mom rambled on, Jordana went back to daydreaming about Billy, nodding and saying “uh huh” every once in a while. She finished setting the table and sat down in her usual chair.
“That’s great, Mom,” Jordana said when her mom finally finished her story and sat down across from her. “Where’s Dad?”
“I’m here, I’m here,” her dad said as he walked into the room and sat down with a huff.
This is not a good sign, Jordana thought as she studied her dad’s face. His brow was furrowed and he was clearly not in the same mind-frame as her mother.
Still, Jordana put on a smile and handed The Judge the bowl of mashed potatoes.
“Here you go, Daddy,” she said sweetly.
“Thanks, Jordana,” he answered, softening a little, but keeping the scowl on his face.
Taking a moment to strategize, Jordana took a bite of her dinner roll and then wiped her mouth.
“I got an A on my science midterm,” Jordana offered finally.
“That’s great, honey,” her dad said, brightening. “That’s my girl. Didn’t I tell you that if you studied hard, you’d get those As?”
“Yep. And that means that I’m almost guaranteed an A in the class,” she added, happy that her buttering up seemed to be working.
Another bit of silence filled the room and Jordana hesitated slightly before going on.
“So, I was thinking, that maybe as a reward for all of my hard work at school, I could maybe go to the movies with my friends tomorrow night,” Jordana said quickly, before shoveling a forkful of food into her mouth.
“I’m sure that would be fine, honey,” her mom said.
Yes! Score one for the underdog, Jordana thought.
“What movie?” her dad asked suddenly, interrupting the daydream she’d just started, in which she was getting snuggly with Billy Thorpe.
I was so close….
“Uh,” Jordana said, trying to keep her voice even and calm. “I think the girls said something about Blood, Guts and Fears. I don’t really know much about the movie. In fact, I think it might be a documentary on how meats are processed.”
Okay, this wasn’t entirely true either, but Jordana really didn’t know what the movie was about. And with the popularity of doc films like Supersize Me and that pudgy guy who was always wearing that hat and uncovering bad stuff like guns and things the president was doing wrong, it was totally possible that there was a movie out there about cows and chickens being mistreated too.
Jordana glanced up to look at her dad, who had been silent until now, and realized instantly that he wasn’t buying it.
“What’s this documentary rated?” he asked, looking straight into Jordana’s eyes.
How does he always know she wondered as she decided on the best way to respond.
“Not really sure,” Jordana answered evenly. “It might be rated PG-13, maybe R, but it’s supposed to be really good.”
“Jordana. Anne. Kane. You know that you aren’t allowed to see rated R movies until you’re seventeen,” her dad said, shaking his head.
“But Dad, everyone else’s parents let them see the movies.” Jordana couldn’t help but cringe as she gave the typical kid-like response. Changing tactics, she added, “By not letting me see the same movies as my peers, you’re subjecting me to possible ridicule and exclusion. How am I supposed to connect with people at my school, if we have nothing in common?”
He responded better to a well, thought-out argument than a plea for a rules change. Her father smiled as she finished her speech, and then turned back to looking stern.
“Nice try. I see you’ve been watching CourtTV again,” her dad said as he finished the last bite on his plate. “But the answer’s still no. You’ll just have to find other things to talk about at school. Like books, or the government…or Britney Spears. There’s always something going on with her.”
Jordana opened her mouth to argue further, but knew it was a waste of time. Instead, she got up, put her plate in the dishwasher and walked out of the room without saying another word.
As she dragged herself upstairs to her room, she thought about what she was going to do. Sure, her parents had said no—again. But she could still go to the movies anyway.
Shutting her door, Jordana crossed the room and let herself fall onto her bed. After such a long day, she was too tired to make any decisions about the movies. Turning her thoughts back to her daydream, she began to picture how her movie date with Billy would go—and fell asleep before he could confess his undying love for her.
* * * *
The next day, Jordana found herself squished in between Noe and Kaleigh at their usual lunch table. They were only five minutes into their lunch period before Sara brought up the plans for that night.
“So guys, we thought we’d go check out Blood, Guts and Fears tonight,” Sara said to the group. “We figured we could use a good scare after this sucky week.”
“Isn’t Eddie having a party tonight?” Kurt asked, shoveling what looked like tuna surprise into his mouth.
“Well, yeah, but I heard it’ll be tapped out by the time anyone cool shows up,” Melina said quickly.
Jordana and Desi looked at each other and suppressed an eye roll. They knew exactly where Melina had heard that from.
“Isn’t that movie supposed to be stupid or something?” Noe asked, looking up from his Golf magazine and squinting at them.
“No way. I heard it got three stars from some critic guys,” Kaleigh said, matter-of-factly.
“Yeah, out of how many though?” Billy said under his breath. Jordana giggled at this, but it appeared no one else had heard him.
“Come on guys, there’s nothing else to do, and it’ll be fun,” Sara said convincingly.
The guys all looked at each other and finally Billy turned his attention back to his food.
“Sure. Yeah, okay,” Billy said. “But I’m gonna have to meet you guys there. I’ve got something to take care of at home first.”
“Then we’re all in?” Melina almost squealed.
“Dude, it’s just a movie, Melina,” Kurt said with his mouth full.
Melina frowned as Kurt made this comment and then smiled over at Noe, who was still engrossed in his magazine.
“Uh, I’m not sure whether I’m gonna go or not,” Jordana said, as she pictured her love life going down the drain.
Billy looked up at her as Sara said, “How come? I thought we agreed we were all in.”
Jordana picked at the sleeves of her cardigan nervously. “I don’t know. I might have to stay home. You know how lame the ’rents can be sometimes. They mentioned something about spending ‘quality time’ with me or something,” she said, almost believing the lie herself. “I mean, I’ll try to get out of it, but I can’t promise anything.”
“But you have to go,” Melina whined.
Man, you’d think it were me she wanted to get her hands on and not Noe, Jordana thought.
“I’ll just have to let you guys know later,” Jordana answered, plastering on a fake smile.
“But you have to go to the movies with us tonight,” Melina said again, “It’s like, fate. I mean, what if it’s your destiny to be at the movies with us tonight? You don’t want to mess with destiny.”
Jordana snorted at Melina and then was instantly embarrassed. It is so not cool to snort in front of your future husband, her mind screamed.
Still blushing, Jordana said, “I really doubt that it’s in the stars that I go to the movies tonight. I mean, come on, Melina, really.”
“Yeah, what if she’s fated to not go to the movies tonight? Did you ever think of that?” Desi chimed in.
And that’s why she’s my best friend, ladies and gentlemen.
“Well, let’s check out your horoscope, Jordana, just to be sure,” Melina said, snatching the school paper away from Kaleigh, who had been using it as a place mat.
“Like we can really trust anything that the school paper says anyway,” Sara said, obviously bored of the topic already.
She winced involuntarily as Sara said this. Jordana was secretly on the newspaper staff and wrote a column every week under a false name. None of her friends knew this though—not even Desi. This was something Jordana had always just wanted to keep to herself.
“Okay, let’s see. Cancer, cancer, cancer,” Melina mumbled as she looked through the list on the horoscope page. “Here we go! ‘You will try something new this weekend.’ Hmmm, well, the movie’s new to you, so see? That means you should go.”
“If she doesn’t wanna go, she doesn’t wanna go, Melina,” Billy said, still looking at Jordana.
“It’s—it’s not that I don’t want to go, but you know my parents,” Jordana said, raising her hands dramatically in the air. “Listen, like I said, let me see if I can get out of it. If not, you guys can just tell me what a fun time you had on Monday.”
Without me.
“But your horoscope says…” Melina started again.
“Melina!” everyone shouted at the same time.
“I’ll try, okay?” Jordana promised, as Melina started to pout again.
“I’m just saying,” Melina said quietly, as she took a bite of her apple.
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Note from the author:
If you like Fate Reloaded, be sure to fan me, and then support your fellow Wattpadder by buying my other book, Life's a Witch, in paperback, or for the Kindle or Nook. Just go to amazon.com and search Life's a Witch...you could help make me the next New York Times Best Seller!
Thanks for your support!
:)
Britt