A story set in the fictional town of Ardenthill.
The hotel room, which had appeared welcoming at first, now seemed unbearably seedy. It was not the hotel room’s fault, Melissa knew. She was renting the room for what her brain insisted on calling a clandestine encounter. Sitting on the bed and waiting for the other person to arrive gave her a lot of time …
The Bus was moving before Keeley awoke for the first time. Bleary-eyed, she took in the dim bedroom beyond her crib bars. Her nannies had added a pair of nightlights while she slept. Light was glimmering at the edges of the back window’s curtains too, making it easy for Keeley to spot the bedroom’s other …
The interstate highway was a pair of grey strips, surrounded by rows of trees in their full summer green. From the bus’s elevated deck, the lounge’s couch was a great place to watch the scenery. Keeley took a seat and wished that view offered something more interesting than trees. Looking out the windshield from the …
The majesty of Fall had officially faded from campus, leaving the trees bare and the sidewalks covered with brown leaf muck. Camila had always welcomed the onset of winter, otherwise known as the holiday season. College was making it difficult for Camila to anticipate the upcoming festivities. For one thing, there were a lot of …
Keeley couldn’t believe her phone alarm was going off while it was still dark. Especially considering that it was August. Despite the summer heat outside, she was swaddled in blankets and pajamas. Mom believed in keeping the house super cold at night and claimed it was healthy. The cold hadn’t given Keeley any health benefits …
The ABDU student health center had the odd juxtaposition of diverse clients and well-maintained fixtures common to university medicine. The lobby was downright cheery with its baseboard and crown molding in ABDU’s traditional pale blue and pink. Posters crowded the walls, with a disturbing proportion of them advising on the risks or symptoms of various …
The sun was making the air above the pool ripple. It was a day of dead air and concrete you could cook on. The maintenance guy had spent his day fixing part of the driveway that’d melted. Keeley had been in the pool since breakfast. There were a lot of advantages to the pool. Obviously, …
“You’re sure you want to do this, and you want to start it now?” Monserrat was tall enough to be silhouetted by the overhead lamp in Jenna’s room, it gave her a halo not unlike the glow she had in Jenna’s imagination. Jenna considered the question, refusing to retreat into her Little mindset before she …
Astra grabbed a tissue from the decorative box on Sarita’s dresser and blew her nose. Astra bought those for me to pretty up the room. Or to make it more like her apartment. Sarita realized she could hardly recognize her apartment after all of Astra’s changes. Sarita’s brow furrowed as she stared up at Astra, …
“Wake up, Little girl.” Niusha’s face came into focus as Jenny blinked away the gummy feeling in her eyes. The halo in Jenny’s vision surrounded Niusha in a soft glow, as if she were decorated in silver. Navi is the sun and Usha can be the moon. She keeps me safe when the my sun …