MCRomances Presents: Teen Fiction Sneak Peek
Hi Everyone!
I'm M.C. Roman also known as @MCRomances here on Wattpad. I'm so happy to be participating in the Wattpad Block Party for a fourth time!
For this edition I'm sharing a preview of a brand new teen fiction story I've been working on. It's my first time writing teen fiction so I'm pretty excited about it!
Below is a sneak peek of the first chapter. It's a first draft and in its very early stages so I don't have a title for it yet. If you have any ideas for one after reading, feel free to share them!
For Spanish readers, I'm also excited to be sharing the first chapter of Four Walls (Cuatro Paredes) in my other post! It's a romantic suspense/mystery that I'm currently translating into Spanish and will be posting to my profile soon.
Lastly, don't forget to check out the giveaway link at the end of this post for a chance to win a $10 gift card from Amazon.
Thanks so much for checking out my post. Hope you like it and let me know what you think!
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Chapter One
It was my first day of high school, sitting in detention while dwelling on the order of the cosmic universe, when I first saw him.
Everything about that particular moment was wrapped up in shocked, unfamiliar emotions.
To start, I had never been in detention before, so I wasn't exactly sure what the proper etiquette was and how people normally behaved during this so-called hour of punishment. Should I be remorseful for my actions? Atone my mistakes? It seemed natural to reflect on the events that brought me here, but I couldn't bring myself to regret a single one of them.
Which led to my second underlying emotion and the reason I was in detention in the first place. I had lost my most prized possession that morning and was in the worst possible mood. What's more, I was stunned at my own stupidity. But I didn't want to think about that. Again.
Third, and probably most bizarre of all, boys had never paid much attention to me before. And yet, this particular boy, sitting in the opposite side of the room, was smiling in my direction.
It took me a while to understand that he was, in fact, smiling at me until I looked around and realized we were the only two people in detention besides the teacher who was supervising us.
He softly chuckled at my reaction, and when our eyes met, he raised his hand, giving me a small wave. It was almost like he knew who I was, but I was certain I had never met him before. He had a face you wouldn't forget. Confused and not knowing what else to do, I raised my hand and waved back.
His smile widened before he turned around in his chair, and resumed writing in his notebook. He seemed to be on a role because he hadn't stopped writing in it the entire time we'd been here. That is, until he unexpectedly turned around and smiled at me.
It was only then that I felt my cheeks flush, and for once I was grateful for having a delayed reaction to things. My mom always said I was a late bloomer, but it seemed to apply to all aspects of my life. I was late at everything. Especially today.
Thinking of my mom saddened me, so I got back to reading my algebra textbook to get away from my thoughts. I hated math, but I had already shed enough tears thinking about her all morning and I couldn't afford to break down again. Especially not in front of other people, and especially not in front of the cute boy across the room, who for some unknown reason was peering at me again over his shoulder.
Miss Ortiz suddenly cleared her throat. Alarmed, I thought she was about to scold us, but she stood up instead, grabbing her belongings. "Alright you two, I need to head home early, so consider this your lucky day." She barely looked at us, texting quickly on her phone, and ran out the door.
Your lucky day.
Her words caught me by surprise, rooting me to my seat. Today had most certainly not been a lucky day. Quite the opposite. It was the unluckiest day I'd ever had. Getting out of detention half an hour early meant nothing to me.
Once I snapped out of it and lifted my head, the boy was already gone from the room. He probably considered getting out of detention lucky and didn't hesitate to take full advantage of it and continue on with his day. I, on the other hand, wasn't looking forward to what awaited me next. So I stalled and took my time in packing up and leaving the room.
My hands starting sweating as I made my way down the hallway to exit the school. I was grateful the halls were deserted. It was the first day of school after all and the majority of the students had already left after the final bell. Still, it didn't calm my nerves.
Pushing through the double doors, I took a deep breath as I was greeted with the last days of the summer breeze. I could sense the impending change of the season, the way it becomes gradually cooler until it turns into fall overnight, taking with it all traces of the summer heat.
I silently cursed as I noticed the boy from detention sitting on the steps outside. It could only mean he was waiting to be picked up too. I would be forced to wait with him, which in turn frazzled me even more.
He looked up and smiled at me once more, but probably noticing my distraught expression, looked away and said nothing. Good. If we kept it this way, I might survive this strange encounter.
I sat down on the other side of the steps from where he was and prayed he got picked up first. I had already reached my limit of emotional turmoil for the day, and having him witness the wrath of my father once he showed up would certainly push me over the edge.
As the minutes ticked by, I became increasingly aware of the boy's presence. I didn't dare look his way, but I could feel him gazing at me, the same way he had during detention. I kept wondering if I should say something to him, if I was being rude for ignoring him, or if he was being rude for staring. All I know is that a boy had never paid this much attention to me and it was unnerving, to say the least.
Realizing that I wouldn't be able to stand twenty more minutes of this slow torture, I peeked his way. He wasn't staring at me anymore, but was writing again in his notebook against his lap. Of course, he stopped to look at me once he saw me turn. His eyes immediately struck me. From the closer distance, I could see that they were a rich amber, reminding me of warm honey. But they weren't smiling at me anymore. No, for some reason they were nervous. He gulped noticeably, then turned back to his notebook.
"Hey."
The word left my mouth before I could stop it. I guess curiosity got the best of me, and I suddenly felt the urge to speak to him instead of getting lost in my own mind.
He returned my greeting with a charming grin. He didn't say anything though, and I found myself at a loss for words. What am I supposed to say next?
While I contemplated this, he wrote something in his notebook while he worked his jaw. He appeared frustrated, as if he was waging some kind of internal battle. Maybe he was stuck on a sentence and didn't want to be interrupted. He then took a deep breath and turned my way. I immediately discarded the thought. He looked at me with an interest I had never felt before. Still, he didn't say anything.
"Are you waiting to be picked up?" I blurted out. That much was obvious, but maybe if I asked him an easy question it would break the ice. What I really wanted to know was what he was writing about with such intensity.
He simply nodded. He looked like he was about to say something, but then dropped his head and stared at his notebook in front of him. I thought I saw a look of resignation cross his face, but it disappeared so quickly, I might have imagined it.
"I'm Cassia, by the way," I said, as a last ditch effort at a conversation.
"Caelum," he immediately replied, a confidence in his voice I hadn't expected. His expression morphed into a smile so radiant, it blew me away. "Nice to meet you, Cassia."
Now I was the one struck speechless. Not only by his name, but the way he said mine. Did he realize it too?
My mom had been an astronomy buff, and so I was named after the constellation Cassiopeia. I had always been thankful that she at least shortened my name so it wouldn't be so obvious, but Caelum seemed to pick up on it. I didn't want to jump to any conclusions from his own name, but when he stood up and scooted closer to me, I saw it clearly written on the front of his notebook, with the exact same spelling as the constellation in the southern sky.
I didn't want to seem like an astronomy geek, so instead I replied with a simple, "It's nice to meet you too."
"I think you're in my science class. Fourth period? They called your name. Unless you switched or something," Caelum quickly said, his hesitation in speaking to me long forgotten.
"Oh." I dug out my schedule from the front of my backpack. I had actually missed all of my morning classes and wasn't sure what period I was in. It quickly confirmed he was correct. "Yeah, you're right. I am."
He eyed me curiously as I put my schedule away. "So you cut class on the first day of school? That's kind of badass."
I couldn't help the embarrassment that took over me, although Caelum seemed to think otherwise. "It wasn't on purpose. I was late to school. I've never cut class before."
Caelum chuckled. "I was about to say, you didn't strike me as the detention type."
"First timer over here," I deadpanned. I didn't necessarily want to be talking about this morning's events, but making light of the situation somehow made me feel better. "So what did you do?" I asked, before he could dig any deeper.
He shrugged, mulling over his answer. "I stuck my nose where it didn't belong."
I almost laughed at the vagueness of his response. It seemed we both didn't want to share too much. "You're going to have to be more specific than that."
He shook his head. "This kid was being picked on. I ... intervened."
I scrunched my forehead in confusion. "So why did you get detention if you were helping him?"
Caelum sighed, and I could tell he didn't want to tell me. He did anyway. "Because I threw a punch. The school has a zero violence policy, even if it's against a bully."
"The bully didn't get detention?" I asked, surprised.
"He actually got suspended."
"Well, I'm glad the school is doing something right. And I'm sure the kid who was being picked on was grateful for your help."
"Yeah, I guess." He smiled at me, then turned to put away his notebook. I wondered if maybe that was what he was writing about, if they made him write a report about it as part of the incident. I was about about to ask him, but I got caught up staring at him. This boy with the warm smile, honey colored eyes, and protector of innocents was already starting to have an effect on me.
He ran a hand through his short brown hair and stretched out his long legs. Hugging his arms around his chest, he asked, "So why were you late to school?"
I debated what to tell him. I didn't really want to tell him anything, but after he shared the details of his story, I felt like I had to. Plus, he made me feel better about being in detention earlier, so maybe it would be good to let out what had been eating at me all day. Hopefully, he wouldn't think it was lame.
"I lost a necklace on the way to school," I began, closing my eyes. "It was a keepsake so it had sentimental value. I was trying to find it."
Caelum gave my knee a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry, Cassia."
I didn't know if it was the recollection of the event itself, his touch, or his soothing voice, but it took a herculean effort to swallow the tears that were threatening to spill all over again.
"Where did you lose the necklace?" Caelum asked.
"On the six train," I said. "I felt it slip too. I just didn't realize it at the time. I shouldn't have worn it in the first place. It was really stupid of me."
He bumped my shoulder. "Hey, don't give up yet. I can help you look for it, if you want."
I looked at him in shock. I couldn't believe his offer. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me.
I was about to tell him not to worry about it, that the necklace was long gone, when an SUV pulled up in front of us. I sighed in relief when Caelum's brother called his name from the passenger window. Well, I assumed he had to be his brother. He was a younger version of him.
Caelum quickly got up and jogged toward the car. I thought it was strange he left without a word, but once he reached his car, he stayed outside talking to his mom and brother through the window. After a moment, he turned around and called me over.
Startled, I slowly walked over, wondering what on earth he was doing. "Mom, this is Cassia," he said, introducing me to her.
"Hi, Cassia," she said warmly, her smile as big as her son's. Looking at Caelum, she beamed. "That's so sweet."
I wasn't sure what she was referring to, but after I greeted her, Caelum introduced me to his brother. His name was Rigel, which also happens to be the name of Orion's brightest star.
Before I could let that sink in, Caelum turned to me. "Do you need a ride?"
"We're going to get ice cream!" Rigel shouted excitedly.
I laughed, dumbfounded. Not only was Caelum's mom not mad at him for landing in detention, but she actually seemed proud of him, and was taking her children out for ice cream. I felt a twinge of jealousy, in awe of the perfect family in front of me.
"No, thank you. My dad is coming to—"
"Cassia!"
The boom of my father's voice caused me to shrink in place. I quickly composed myself, slipping on the mask I had rehearsed so often. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you all," I said with a forced smile. I couldn't bring myself to look at Caelum in the eye, so before I took off, I added, "Bye, Caelum."
"See you, Cassia," I heard behind me.
As I looked up, I saw my father barreling down the street, almost dragging my younger sister behind him as she tried to keep up with his pace. I could tell Elara had been crying, and I immediately felt guilty for putting her through this. I was supposed to pick her up from her middle school before heading home, but since I got detention, I was forced to call my father instead. He could have easily picked her up and taken her straight home, but he had insisted on picking me up too. I thought maybe it was because he wanted to speak to the school principal, but the look on his face told me he was beyond pissed and we were going straight home.
He didn't say a word to me once I reached them. I was only met with silent disappointment, but I knew I would hear about this afterwards behind closed doors. I only hoped he would buy my made-up reason for being so late to school. If he knew it was because I lost Mom's necklace, I was pretty sure I would be grounded for life.
As we headed toward the subway, I risked a glance behind me. Caelum was still in the same position I had left him standing outside of his car, looking at me with an indecipherable expression. Before I could figure it out, my dad gripped the back of my neck, forcing me to turn around. And not for the first time, I wished I had a different father.
Of one thing I was certain after that day—the kind boy of the southern sky would think twice before ever speaking to me again.
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