Infernum

           His hand found hers and soon they were spinning each other on the bank, singing and cheering into the night. The music concluded, but still they danced. They twirled, stepped, and jumped as loud claps echoed and the sky was set on fire.

           “Anytime, now hurry it up.” Lincoln tossed her up and Eliza pulled herself into the rafters. She grabbed Lincoln and once they were both secure, they replaced the tile and quietly crawled away.

           She gasped when she saw Kaze dangling there. She quickly grabbed her music and sprinted out of the auditorium. Kaze tried shouting after her, apologizing, but she was already gone. He sighed. That’s going to be awkward tomorrow.

“This is what I mean” He tightened the blanket around her again. It was so cold. The window was open. The others had complained it was hot, so he cracked it. But she was shaking and it was breaking his heart. Shane stood as carefully as he could. May was to his left, covered in her jacket and a blanket, shivering in her sleep. To his right was Chel: asleep, but moaning every few moments. Beside her was the snoring Forester and the perfect silent Emyd, with Demi in her top bunk, repeatedly groaning and thrashing. It was quite the group, all crammed into the small room. Shane moved to one foot, carefully stretching one leg across the room towards the window. He set it down as quietly as he could and lifted the other, swinging it over the makeshift tv stand, and finally standing firmly beside the window. He grabbed the top of the window frame and began to push down. The window didn’t budge. He pulled harder, trying to keep the curtains closed as he did. Nothing. Shane sighed. It had not be this hard to open. As more snow chilled air stepped into the room, he looked over to May. Her head was buried in her chest, her dark hair still bobby-pinned in place. She was smiling. In her shaking she was frowning, like she was in pain. Shane looked back at the window. He grabbed it again and set his feet against the wall. He crouched down, pushing himself into the wall, and pulled. After a few frustrated seconds, the window finally creaked shut. “Geez,” he whispered. “Hm?” May’s groggy voice snapped him back to her, carefully dancing between furniture and sleeping legs. He fell into the tiny crevice between May and her bass, letting his head hit the long pillow. “You okay?” Shane whispered. May hadn’t opened her eyes. She took in a sharp breath and spoke again. “Do you have a blanket? It’s so cold.” He didn’t. Between all six of them there wasn’t enough. “I’m okay.” “No you’re not.” May un-tucked herself and threw half of their small grey throw blanket over his shoulder. “May, I’m fine.” “Sh!” She pushed the blanket around his shoulder, scooting a bit closer to do so. “When did your shirt come off?” Shane smiled a bit. “It didn’t.” “What?” Shane grabbed her hand and placed against his chest. Her fingers felt the cloth and May giggled, her eyes still shut. He waited for her to take her hand away, but she didn’t. She left her hand on his chest and he could feel her shake again. “You’re so warm.” Shane, ignoring every second and third thought, slipped his hand around her shoulder, pulling her a bit closer. He rubbed his hand along her back and she let out a quiet moan. “It feels like the sun is coming through your hand.” “Are you warming up at all?” Shane asked as he traced circles on her back. He felt her nod and she pushed her head into the pillow. Shane lied beside her. She rubbed her cool feet against his as he held her. He took a moment to look at her. He couldn’t see much, it was dark, but he knew she was beautiful. Maybe even more than usual, in the innocence of sleep. He placed his head beside hers, their foreheads resting against each other, and shut his eyes. *** “This is what I mean,” she whispered a few moments later. Her cold breath tickled his nose. He cracked an eye. “Hm?” May yawned and tangled her legs in his. “Nothing.” *** His hand had fallen limp over here in his sleep. She took a sharp breath and stirred. Shane’s eyes opened. “You okay?” “I like it. When you do the circles.” Shane laughed silently and his finger began drawing circles on her back. She smiled and they fell back asleep. *** She turned over, facing away from him. He began to pull his hand back. She took it, and held her under her chest. He rested his chin against her head. They fell back asleep. *** The alarm went off. ‘Here comes the sun...’. Shane slowly opened his eyes, not moving his arm from around May. She roused awake, groaning with slight annoyance at the blaring music. Their eyes, a nose width apart, met. “Good morning.”

Secret Story #39 6/5/17 "A Melody No One Can Play Alone" Caitlin sat on the bench, fiddling with the base of her dress. She was nervous, very nervous. It had been months since she played in front of a crowed and, although she practiced everyday leading up to now, she still wasn't confident at all. The only reason she had to play is because a friend asked her too. The original piano player quit a week earlier and Caitlin was the only one readily available to fill in. Sitting there now, behind the curtain, waiting for all the people to find their seats, gave her second, third, and fourth thoughts about agreeing to do this. The entire school and then some would be here tonight, very few of whom knew that she could play the piano at all. But, with her nerves, she wasn't sure if she could play either. The only comforting fact she had was that she was not performing alone. It was a duet. A very odd duet; piano and violin. Caitlin had yet to meet the violin player, her friend assured that as long as she learned her sections everything would be fine, and hoped that they could calm her a bit. "Hey, sorry I'm a little late." A light red-headed boy carrying a violin case took the only other seat on the stage and began setting up. He pulled out a purple, electric violin, that surprised Caitlin. She wondered how her high and slow sections would interact with whatever he was going to play. She watched as tuned it and she began to slowly recognize his face. He went to her school, maybe had a class her two, but she couldn't remember his name. "Jake," he said, as if reading her thoughts. "I'm, uh, Caitlin." She mentally flinched from her stumble. Jake just smiled and slowly ran his bow across the strings. The sound was deep and smooth, which wasn't what she was expecting. He played a few more quick notes, testing everything out, and Caitlin thought he seemed very comfortable with his instrument. She hoped she was able to keep up. "Lot's of cars outside. Looks like it's gonna be a big night. You nervous?" Caitlin nodded vigorously, adding a light laugh. "Yes, I am. I've never performed for this many people." Jake smiled again. "Well I've never performed at all," he said, scratching his head. Caitlin was surprised at first, but gained a calm sense knowing she had slightly more experience than he did. "I hope we don't blow this," Caitlin said quietly. Jake shrugged. "Either way, I think we'll have a good time." He looked into her eyes as he spoke, and when he was done, there was a pause. They lingered a bit, staring at each other, smiling. Caitlin got an unfamiliar feeling in her chest, but before she could think too much about it, a bell rang and the curtain began to rise. Caitlin received one last big smile from Jake before the both took a breath and began to play.

Secret Story #38 6/4/17 "Scandal" Alex watched her boss skim through the pages she'd place on his desk, hoping for some good news, but his face only grew more and more annoyed. "Vondras, there's no story here. Nobody cares about old people celebrating old stuff," He said, tossing the pages back to her. "Other old people do," she tried to argue, re-stacking the paper. Her boss sighed. "We don't need more old people reading our stuff. We gotta attract the new generation, reel them back to into our dying medium. Now go find me an exciting story that can do that." "But-" "But nothing. Go." Alex groaned and turned to leave, tossing her old people story into the trash on her way out. How was she supposed to find an exciting story in this old, rinky-dink town? She had no idea, but if she didn't figure it out, she'd have no job. Alex left the building and began walking down the dark evening street, trying to get her thoughts flowing. It'd be great if an amazing story would just jump out of her, right at her feet, ready to get her a raise and into her boss's good graces. Then she heard a weird sound coming out of an alley a few feet ahead. Voices for sure, kissing too. Alex, being the nosy reporter she was, quietly walked up to the alley and listened close. "Ooo," a female voice cooed. "So naughty Mr. Mayor." Mayor! It couldn't be! Alex pulled out her phone, set it to record, and carefully positioned it to see into the alley. She let film a few minutes before pulling it back and watching the footage. It was the mayor! And he had his hand down the pants of a woman who was definitely not his wife. Alex silently nodded, pleased with herself. If this wasn't an exciting story, she didn't know what was.

Secret Story #37 6/4/17 "That's a wrap" "How could you do this," Arleigh screamed, beating her fist against Drew's chest. Tears ran down her face, but they were masked by the rain pouring down on them. "You don't know what you saw!" Drew clenched his teeth and his skin grew hot, despite it being a cold and raining November night. "Who was she, huh? Who's sitting in that booth right now?" Arleigh gestured angrily to a scared girl, sitting by the window in the diner, staring into her purse. "She must be someone special because I definitely saw you shove your tongue down her throat!" "Arleigh it's not like-", Drew stopped short as they both saw that girl rush out of the diner to stand before them. "Why are you still here," Arleigh spat. "Get lost slut!" The mistress silently reached into her purse. Drew watched, confused, and Arleigh stared angrily, a few short moments from busting the girls face in. But, neither of them got the chance to do anything. From the purse, the girl pulled out a gun, a silencer extending from the barrel. She raised it, looking down the sights directed to the center of Drew's forehead. "I'm sorry." Arleigh screamed. "And cut!" The director snapped his fingers and the rain machine, ceased. Assistants brought towels to the actors who were glad they were able to use warm water for the scene. "I was pretty good right?" Arleigh asked Drew, leaning against him as they moved to get changed. Drew was a pretty experienced actor, but this was her first film. "You did awesome babe." He leaned down and gave a her a quick kiss and the continued towards the dressing rooms.

Secret Story #36 6/4/17 "Hat-Trick" "The documents we need are in a safe in the back office. A quick in and out, easy peasy." Robyn's voice rang in Carson's head. Between her and T, this telepathy thing was getting rough. "How are we getting in," Trystyn asked, looking over her map. They were standing outside the south entrance, on the wrong side of tall, electric fence. They thought about having Piper fly over, but gunmen on the roof shut down that idea. "I have an idea." Carson, pulled his hat off of his head. He handed it to Trystyn, who gave him a look of partial disgust. "What am I supposed to do with this?" "You're gonna hold it, I'm going to get inside it, then you're going to throw it over." "That's a stupid plan." Trystyn spun the purple top hat in her hands. She couldn't believe she let him go out wearing this thing. "Do you have a better one?" Trystyn shrugged. "You right." Carson smiled and then kissed Trystyn on the cheek. "Let's go!" Carson touched the inside of the hat with his finger and slowly melted into the shadows. Soon, his entire body was flattened into the confines of the hat, but to Trystyn, it didn't weigh anymore than usual. Trystyn looked up at the fence one more time with a sigh, before winding back and throwing the hat like a frisbee high into the air. It spun quickly, flying up and over the fence, before lightly gliding down and across the yard towards the building. Trystyn watched through the fence as Carson began to materialize out of the hat, his feet hitting the ground and rest of his from soon following. He eventually formed fully, and rolled into crouch, holding his hat. Trystyn nodded approvingly. "That works."

Secret Story #35 6/4/17 "Take A Breath" Kourtney laid her head down, the lecture slowly making her eyes heavier and heavier. She adjusted her hair, shut her eyes, and drifted off to sleep. She didn't know how long she had been sleeping, but Kourtney started to hear water. She attributed it to her sleepiness or maybe some half dream or even rain, and tried to fall back to sleep. Kourtney... Her head shot off the desk and she quickly scanned the room. Everyone was busy in their phones and a video was playing on the board. It seemed no one had called her name. Odd, she thought to herself. She shrugged it off and laid her head back down. Wake up... This time she only opened one eye and, for a moment, swore she was inside a cave. After blinking, her classroom returned and everything seemed normal. Still, she thought that cave seemed very real, even though it had to have been some part of a dream. "I must be more tired than I thought," Kourtney whispered to herself, before returning to her nap. Open your eyes... Kourtney, frustrated with her confusion, whipped her head up and stood from the desk. Immediately, she gasped and fell flat on her butt. The classroom was gone, along with everyone in it. She was sitting on the cold ground of a small cave, water trickling from the ceiling. Sunlight was shining inside a few ahead of her and the smell of fresh air rode in on a breeze. "Hello? Is anyone here?" Go... The voice spoke again, between her ears. She didn't know it, she was sure of that, but somehow it felt familiar, right. She could trust it, so she did. Kourtney slowly walked out of the cave and into the light. It blinded her for a moment, but her eyes adjusted and she gasped. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. She was standing on bright green grass, dancing in the wind, leading up to the edge of a cliff. She stepped forward, peering over, and saw a untouched river winding through a dense forest. It was beautiful...but where was she? Breathe... Kourtney obeyed and from her spot on the top of the cliff, looking over the river, took a breath. Then it all came back to her.

Secret Story #34 6/2/17 "Black Roar" "Threat detected!" Anastasia's voice in his ear piece startled Derek, who had been leaning against the wall, punch in hand, waiting for his date to return from the bathroom. "What? Here?" He asked out loud. Luckily the booming music of the prom would cover his voice from anyone farther than two feet away. "What are you on about?" "Multiple targets carrying weapons. Transmitting to contacts now." The AI proceeded to activate the electronic screens build into Derek's contacts. The entire room suddenly darkened, leaving only the people inside visible. Most of the students and faculty were highlighted in blue, safe, but there were two figures walking into the kitchen that were highlighted in red. Anastasia's scan highlighted objects under their clothes that immediately alarmed Derek: knives and guns. Big guns. "How'd they get those in there?" Derek's vision returned to normal and his brain got to work. This had to have been planned far in advance, with a man on the inside. A staff member for sure. But who? "Give me a list of every staff member here," Derek ordered, as he set his punch on the table and began to move farther into the back of the cafeteria. A list of names appeared in his vision. The principle, vice principle, a few teachers he recognized, and the resource officer. He didn't know that name: Officer Steinbeck. "Background check." A few seconds later, Anastasia brought up his photograph along with a bunch of articles and papers linked to his name. "He's substituting for your normal resource officer, but according to police records he was kicked off the force for suspicious on criminal conspiracy, but he was unable to be convicted," the feminine voice explained. "And now he's gonna help shoot up a prom? Christ." Derek began moving faster, wading through the sea of tuxes and elegant dresses. "Where is he?" "Searching camera feeds....he's moved into the bathroom." Derek found a slightly secluded space and reached into the inside pocket of his tux. He pulled out a lighter and a small firecracker. "Alright, we'll need a distraction so I can suit up. Anastasia, prepare for combat." He began lighting the firecracker. "Targets locked, combat programs initiated. All Black Roar systems engaged." "Then let's go." The fuse began to burn and he tossed the firecracker onto the floor. He quickly moved away before the loud pops filled the room followed by startled screaming. Everyone began rushing out of the front doors panicked, leaving Derek to quietly slide out the back entrance and began yanking off his tie. His costume wasn't anything extravagant. He wore dark fitting clothes, flat shoes, a dark coat, and specially designed gloves with retractable, electrically charged claws. Derek's black mask, resembling a lion, is what brought the ensemble together. Derek dashed back in and raced towards the kitchen doors, diving over the concession table and rolling inside. "Who the hell?" One of the student's mumbled. And and the other had rifles drawn. Derek didn't hesitated. Leaping out of his roll, he planted his palm against one of the boys chest, sending an electric shock throughout his body. He crumpled to the ground and the rifle fell to the floor. "One target eliminated! Two remaining." The second assailant attempted to swing the butt of his gun into Derek's head. He ducked, turned, and countered. Jab, jab, jab. All three hits connected directly into the kid's chest, sending him rearing back into a counter. Derek snatched the rifle out of his hand and slammed into the kid's throat, putting him to his knees. A swift kick to the side of the head finished putting him down. "One target re-" Anastasia stopped short on account of a scream that pierced Derek's ears and tugged inside his chest. Madison. His date. The bathroom! He moved as fast as he could back into the main room, but when he got there he saw the resource officer, smirking, with his pistol drawn and placed against the side of Madison's head. She was shaking in her black dress, tears running down her cheeks. Derek's fist clenched, but he made no move. "I've been looking for you, ya know." The man spoke, his smile widening. "There are lots of people around the city willing to pay a pretty penny to know who's behind that mask. And lucky ol me set the perfect trap to get you to show up." He began laughing and Madison whimpered. "Anastasia, give me something!" The AI began urgently scanning the room, searching for any possible points of leverage. "So, why don't you trade me that mask for this pretty young thing here?" He pushed gun further against her head and she cried harder. "Anastasia hurry!" "There!" His contacts locked onto an electric outlet on a nearby wall. "A charge there can overload the bulbs and knock out the lights." "Odds of failure?" "32 percent; gun safety is on, allowing for a surprise maneuver." "Great, let's do it." Derek threw himself forward and slid into the wall. He placed his hand agains the outlet and the shock traveled inside and up the wiring. The bulbs above them began to pop in rapid succession, throwing the room into complete darkness. "Night vision online." Derek jumped towards the man and grabbed him by the leg, sweeping it out from under him. The man fell hard, allowing Derek to grab the gun and use it to bash the side of the man's head, knocking him unconscious. "All target's eliminated. Threat neutralized." Derek sighed and without thinking, pulled of his mask as he relaxed onto his back. It was a second too late that he realized what he had done. "Derek!"

I apologize for all the people who read this who are not you, but you know I have to get these things out there. This may be what lead you to me at all, or made you realize that you are You. If there’s even the slightest chance that’s how it could happen, I have to take it. I’m doing everything I can to get to you, to get to this moment on the bridge, in Venice, right now. So, since I went through all this work several years in advance, do me a favor and say yes.

Secret Story #33 5/23/27 "Brought To You By Sillyvision" Diana pulled herself through the tiny window and clumsily landed on the inside of the old abandoned warehouse. She checked the contents of her bag, tape recorder, camera, nothing was broken. Satisfied, she pulled out her flashlight, set the bag on her shoulder, and began looking around. According to her intel, this place had been an old cartoon studio, a pretty popular one at that. They made comics, movies, tv shows, their characters were a household name. But, apparently, one of the creators went insane and drove the studio into the ground. All the employees left until it was only the lead creator, toiling away in maleness alone in this very warehouse. No one ever saw him again. No one ever looked. That was a normal enough story, though. Diana was here for the real scoop. After the stupid became empty, rumors traveled around town like wildfire. What had drove him insane? Some people speculated the fame was too much. Others believed that it had been building up, that he had been hiding creepy clues in all of his cartoons. Maybe he got into devil worship. Could it be a coincidence that his lead character was 'The Dancing Demon'? Diana didn't know, but sure as hell was going to find out. She shone the flashlight around. The floor was cluttered with scraps of paper, broken pencils, and ink stains. Lots and lots of ink stains, set in giant blotches all over. What could they need so much ink for? Diana took out her camera and snapped a few photos. She was still getting pictures when she heard a rustling behind her. Diana spun on her heel, the beam dashing all over the room. Right at the edge of the light, she saw a tall figure, entirely black, figure duck away behind a corner. Diana shook her head and took a deep breath. It was dark and late and she was sure all he devil worshiper research was getting to her head. The door was locked, she had to break and crawl through a window to get in here. She had to be alone. But she wasn't. Suddenly a song starting playing through the entire building. It had a ragtime beat and sounded like it was coming through an old radio or something. Diana stifled a shrieked and involuntarily hid under a nearby desk. She tried to recover as the music kept playing: 'I said come one, come all, enjoy the show! Three to get ready, nowhere to go! Are you feeling blue? Or just black and white? In the end we're gonna have you feelin' alright!' Diana could feel her heart pounding in her chest. What could be happening? It's be nearly a decade! Nothing in this place should still be functioning at all. Then the music started to get louder. She thought she might've started hearing footsteps, but it was impossible to tell. With her shaky hands, Diana reached into her bag and pulled out the small pistol she always carried with her. 'Now don't you look so mad! Don't you be so mean! Make way, give pay to the Ink Machine!' Are you feeling gloom? Losing track of time? In the end you're in for one hell of a night!' It was getting too loud. Diana dropped the gun and planted her hands on her ears. What was happening? She needed to get out. The window was closest. But could she reach it from this side? God, she hoped so. She picked up her gun and prepared to make her move. 'Soon you will see! We'll animate just you and me! Signed in blood, or even ink. Before you know, we'll all be part of this machine!' With another breath, Diana dove out from under the desk and felt an immediate tug on her hair. She screamed and reached back to find the puller, losing her pistol in the process. It lifted her off her feet, leaving her kicking and yelling as it turned her around. Diana continued struggling until she finished turning and then immediately froze. Her face was inches away from the manifestation of pure horror. 'Now there's nothing left, no one to save. Just a dancing demon on our grave! It's what we want, it was our dream, not everything's just as it seems.' The man, creature, holding her was tall with pitch black skin that looked like it was constantly dripping ink. The black substance was also sliding over its face, leaving nothing showing but the outline of two large, cat shaped hears and an inhumanly wide, perfectly white, smile. Diana screamed again. 'The children dance to a sheepish song, we howl like wolves and sing along! Don't you look so mad, don't you be so mean! Make way, give pay to the Ink Machine!' The creature violent lowered her, slamming her body onto the ink soaked floor, and began quickly dragging her further into the warehouse. Diana screamed, pulled at her hair, clawed at the floor, but there was nothing that could save her from the beast dragging her away. The song was now painfully loud and stuck on some loop, repeating the same lyric over and over again. 'Ink machine! Ink Machine! Ink Machine! Ink Machine!'

Secret Story #32 5/20/17 "Rose Colored" Jack exited the cafeteria, holding his less-than-stellar prom glass and nodding at the dressed up teachers as he did so. He fidgeted with the bow tie around his neck, like he had been all night, and smiled to himself as he realized he could finally take it off. Jack wanted to dress nice, but it always made him feel like an imposter: some average mortal who thought he could dress up and dance with the gods for a night. Of course that wasn't the case; Jack couldn't dance. He brushed his light brown hair out of his and took the keys out of his inside pocket. After prom there was usually tons of parties, usually involving one or two illegal substances. But, Jack wasn't heading to any of those. He was heading home. Or, maybe, somewhere to eat. Wherever he was heading, he was going alone. That was the theme for the night, but Jack didn't mind. He wasn't exactly a 'prom' kind of person anyway. He was on his way back to his car when he heard a weird sound. It was a sniffling, coming from one of the dimly lit school buildings surrounding the parking lot. After looking around for a few moments, Jack spotted a girl sitting on the concrete. She was wearing a long, beautiful pink dress and rubbing her eyes. He could tell that she had been and currently was crying and so Jack slowly stepped closer. "Hey...," he said quilted. She looked up at him and froze. "Are you alright?" The girl wiped her eyes and nodded. Jack recognized her now that he was bit closer. Her name was Zoe. They had a history exam together earlier that week and he'd seen her around prom. Although he swore that she'd been with a boy most of the night. "I'm fine," she whispered, clearing her throat. "Just let me cry a little bit longer." She forced a laugh and stared at the ground. Jack frowned and after a moment of hesitation, sat down beside her. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do, but in situations like this, he usually just went with his instincts. "You look beautiful in your dress," Jack said, earning a small smile from Zoe. "I probably looked better when I wasn't in tears. But thanks, stranger." She lingered on the word stranger and it occurred to Jack that as often as he'd seen her, he'd never actually spoken to her. "Jack, we had that AP history exam on Wednesday. You took your shoes off." Jack immediately regretted adding that last part. He was a very observant person, but that wasn't a trait usually appreciated in high school. "Right. You moved around a lot. It was kind of distracting." Jack's face grew warm, remembering how much he fidgeted during tests. "Sorry," he gave, scratching his head. He looked back at Zoe, who was still letting tears lightly splash onto her dress. He suddenly remembered he was holding his keys in his hand and had an idea. "I was actually about to head out and grab some pancakes." "Pancakes?" "Yeah, you know, that whole breakfast for dinner type thing. But I mean, they have other things, if you aren't into pancakes. Like chicken. They have chicken, probably." Jack internally flinched at his cringe-worthy rambling. Hopefully Zoe didn't think he was a complete idiot. "Good to know, but for the record I do eat pancakes." Jack, eased by the fact she was still speaking to him, settled his nerves and continued. "Would you like to come with me?" Jack paused and watched Zoe's expression. She was crying less, but he still couldn't tell if she thought he was insane or not. So he panicked and rambled. "I just figured it'd be a waste of such a good dress not to show it off a little more. And you're probably hungry; prom food isn't that great. I could pay too. And I could take you home after. I have my license and everything so we aren't going to die, probably." Idiot, he thought to himself. Luckily, Zoe's only reaction to Jack's pathetic speech was to laugh. A lot more real of a laugh too, which gave Jack the confidence he needed to continue with he rest of his night. "Sure, why not," Zoe standing up and dusting off her dress. Jack, smiling wide, stood too, and led her to his car. The rest of that night wasn't anything special. He never found out why she was crying, but that wasn't the important part. Jack was just hoping to make her feel better, which he think he accomplished that, minus the moment when he spilt the syrup and nearly ruined Zoe's dress. Afterwards he took her home and they said goodbye. There was no exchange of phone numbers or emails or hugs or anything. But neither of them really minded. Despite Jack's loneliness, and whatever it was that happened to Zoe, they still managed to make a fun night. On his way home Jack thought to himself that maybe it was worth it to go to prom, just maybe without the tie.

Secret Story #31 5/19/17 "A Little Touch Of Magic" Emily sat at her desk, nose buried deep in her book. The teacher was rambling on and on about some completely irrelevant nonsense, so she wasn't missing very much. Eventually he stopped and sent the class to do some 'independent work' so Emily continued turning her pages. A little while later, a boy moved over to her and crouched beside her desk. Emily recognized him out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, Drake." She held down her pages and smiled at him. She'd always seen Drake around, but they never talked much. He was nice enough, but his jet black hair was always a bit...wild. "Hello," he returned. "Which is this, the fifth one?" Drake moved her book to see the cover. Emily nodded. "Yes, Order Of The Phoenix." Emily had started the series the beginning of that week and, if she kept her pace, could probably finish it all before the following Monday. "That's one of my favorite ones." Drake paused a bit, and then looked Emily in her eyes. "Can you keep a secret?" "Huh?" Emily raised an eyebrow, followed my a small, partially, nervous giggle. "I wanna show you something. Can you keep a secret?" Emily hesitantly nodded. "Wonderful! Can I see this?" Drake took the heft novel off of Emily's desk and held it face up on his palm. After looking around to make sure everyone else was still engrossed in their phones, he quietly blew onto the book. Emily instantly became mesmerized. Slowly the book floated upwards, leaving Drake's palm, and rest freely in the air. Drake blew harder and it began to twirl ever slow slightly. Emily held her breath to keep from shouting as Drake stopped and the book fell back into his hand. Emily took a second to catch her breath again and did her best to come up with some way Drake could be tricking her. But there wasn't a thing she could think of that could've made a book float. "How did you do that," she asked, leaning down and examine the book. Drake smiled. "I could teach you if you want. It's not so hard, if you believe." Emily was giggling again. "I think I believe." "Good".

Secret Story #30 5/16/17 "Past Lives" Daisy pushed the boy through the water and managed to lay him on the sand. She couldn't get him high enough to stay completely dry, but his head was out of the water, which was what mattered. She spun her hand under the waves for a moment before it began to glow dimly. Daisy took her hand and lightly placed it upon the unconscious boy's bare chest. She wasn't sure it would work, she never used it on a human before, but it was all she had. A moment later, the boy began to cough violently, water spurting from his longs. Daisy, stunned, began to pat his chest, trying her best to help. Once the coughing began to cease, the boy sat up and held his head, groaning. "What happened...," he whispered, mostly to himself, unaware of Daisy laying in the water near him. "You were in a ship wreck." Daisy's voice cracked a bit. It had been a very long time since she had spoken above the water. "I was only able to grab you. I brought you to the closest shore I could find." "What?" The boy groaned again and opened his eyes. "What!" His eyes landed on Daisy and his eyes grew wide. "What...are you..what?" "I think you call us mermaids," Daisy whispered, feeling extremely self conscious. She tried to push her tail deeper under the water, but the shining blue scales were still visible in the early morning light. "But," the boy started, looking up and down Daisy's body, "you can't be real." He paused and the color suddenly drained from his face. "I'm dead! I should'nt have started whistling! I was just taunting the wind!" "No no no." Daisy placed her hand lightly against his leg, trying to calm him down. "You're alive. I am real. See?" Daisy turned and presented her shining tail to the boy. He was silent for a minute, staring at Daisy's tail. He slowly set out a hand and Daisy nodded. The boy gulped and then nervously rubbed his hand along the mermaid's tail. Daisy thought about what he might be thinking. Moving one way, the scales were smooth, clean. The other, one could feel the edges, with a little risk of cuts. She let him touch it for a bit and when his startled expression faded, she spoke. "My name is Daisy." He looked up at her. "The captain calls-" the boy flinched, "called...me O." He frowned and took his hand away. "I'm sorry about what happened. I could only save you." "Well thanks, Daisy." O stood up on the beach and surveyed the area. "Where are we?" "I don't know..." Daisy slipped back into the water, letting it wash over her. "I was actually trying to find my way home when I came across you and your ship." "Home?" "Yes." Daisy scratched her head. "Although I'm not quite sure how to get there. It's been a long time." She'd been swimming for ages, with no idea if she was heading the right way. She certainly remembered her home. Her siblings, the nearby fish, everything; just not where it was... "A mermaid lost in the ocean." O said, laughing a bit. "Never thought I'd see the day." "I'm sorry. Now that you're safe I guess I'll go." Daisy pushed herself further back into the water, prepared to swim off. But O, squatted down and caught her hand. "No no, that's no good." Daisy looked up at him, confused. "I've been privateering for a while; I know the seas fairly well, although maybe not as well as one of you." O laughed again. "Once I figure out where we are, we can decide where to go. Better to be lost with someone else yeah?" "I guess so," Daisy said, letting a smile crawl between her cheeks. "Although, I can't quite, ya know, walk." She said, splashing her tail. "Don't worry; I'll work something up. I'm a bit of a builder. Just see if you can find me a bunch of sea weed down there." "You go it!" The both smiled at each other before O set off further into the island and Daisy leapt back and dove deep into the water, grasping at all the green she saw.

Secret Story #29 5/5/17 "Like Little Hats" Squall returned to the table with their food and saw Logan with her head down fiddling with something between her fingers. "Watcha got there?" He asked, setting the plates in front of them and taking his seat. Logan jumped a bit, as if she hadn't heard him return, and tossed the small object into the center of the table. Squall studied the object. It was one of the napkins, carefully folded into the shape of a small hat. It wasn't much good for anyone there size, but a mouse or squirrel might've been able to make some use out of it. "I made a little hat. I like little things." She didn't look up at him when we spoke, her eyes stuck on the hat. Squall watched her for a moment before turning back to the folded napkin. "Is that so?" Logan nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Little things are adorable. Like those really tiny dolls or the models you get at Christmas; the trains." She made a motion with her finger that resembled a train's path around the base of a tree. "Little things are great." "Like little hats." Squall added quietly, touching his finger to the tip of the hat. Logan smiled. "Exactly."

1. You are not entitled to people liking you, which means if your crush is apathetic towards you, you’re screwed and there’s nothing no one can do about it. RIP. 2. When under the effect of a crush (scientifically known was limerence), the brain justifies doing some pretty stupid stuff. For example, randomly doing push-ups even though you nor said crush will notice no difference in physique because you can’t possibly do enough push-ups. Or writing a bunch of nonsense, such as this paper. 3. When under a crush one may experience a sudden interest to change random things about themselves: they’re hair, shoes, clothes, speech patter, etc. Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that changing any of those things will yield the desired effect on said crush, and is more likely to make one feel worse. 4. Certain songs get inevitably linked to said crush. They’re usually pretty good ones, which is sad because listening to them isn’t as fun as it probably should be. 5. The crush owes you nothing. Sell yourself as much as you want (actually, don’t. That probably gets annoying for the crush), but if they don’t want to buy, they aren’t going to buy. 6. There’s a very high chance of getting trapped in the ‘one more try’ loop. You’ve tried enough. Probably too much honestly, doing more is unlikely to result in anything, but more hurt feelings. 7. Despite understanding the previous six points, when your crush walks into the room you will still get a surge of butterflies in your stomach and silently wish you were invisible. 8. If you made an effort towards said crush and said effort failed (as it probably did since you’ve made it to point eight on this list), you are going to be very afraid to pursue the next crush. And next crush might go much better! But you won’t know, because you no longer have any confidence. 9. Giving up is one of the hardest things in the world. You understand they aren’t very interested (if at all) and know that your continued efforts are probably not going to get you anywhere and you decide to quit. But then you see them, walking to class or maybe on social media, and you’re stunned all over again. You’ll think: “They’re so amazing! Intelligent, funny, beautiful, polite, and probably twelve other awesome things that I don’t know about yet! I have to keep trying; I can’t miss my chance!” This will lead to the cycle repeating and having to come to terms with the several previous points. 10. Once you’ve eventually made it through the ninth point (with plenty of sadness and frustration) you’ll realize that you never really had a chance. If you did, maybe you could’ve accomplished something (doubtful, but hey, optimism), but you didn’t. Reiterating points 1 and 5, said crush does not owe you a chance. They have their own lives, worries, goals, and maybe they just don’t want anymore to deal with it. None of these ten points are their fault; none of them are your’s. It’s circumstance. All you can do is cry, get up, fall back down, cry again, get up, brush it off, and get going. 11. If you’ve made it this far then congrats, you’re in decent shape. Sure, you may still get a couple flutters when they walk by, but you’ve come to an important realization. The important part of a crush (or any relationship for that matter) is the happiness of both parties. You want your crush to be happy and if a relationship with you won’t do that, then fine. You’ve found contentment in the fact that they are doing what they want, instead of trying to please you it of politeness. Sure, it’d be awesome if they were happy with you, but life isn’t always awesome. You’ll live. Grab some ice cream, start up sweet jams, and move on. Your sadness is (probably) temporary and remember, heartbreak is a good thing (see LP #4: A Toast To Heartbreak). Good luck with your future crushes!