Kelly Oram's Blog, page 5

Top Ten Dream Destinations (Joni, Underway)

Joni, Underway guest post with Jelly Oram & Jonathan Harrow

This is the first book I ever co-authored. I actually wrote it with my husband. Be sure to check out our interview on the co-authoring process. Joni, Underway is available for $2.99 on Amazon or FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

Here’s a fun blog post we did about our top ten dream destinations, just so you can get a feel for the two of us together. :)

In Joni, Underway we are taken on a sailboat cruise from Maine, USA, across the Atlantic to Norway. For Joni’s brother, this trip was #1 on his bucket list. What are your top 10 destinations around the world?

Jonathan: since there are two of us, we’ll each give five, and if some of them don’t match (they won’t!) then I guess we’ll have to go on separate vacations!

Kelly: Fair enough. You go ahead and start.

#1 (Jonathan):

The next FIFA World Cup! That would be Russia, 2018. Russia might not have made my top five on its own, but since the World Cup is there, then it makes the list. I’m a recent convert to watching pro soccer, so I’m not the biggest fan ever (like I probably won’t paint my face or cry or anything), but the overall experience would be a huge draw for me. All the other people visiting from the USA, supporting our team; watching soccer; experiencing a foreign country; and just soaking up the amazing festive vibe that a World Cup brings. Awesome.

#1 (Kelly): Okay, I can agree with Jonathan on this one. When Jonathan fell in love with soccer, he brought me along for the ride. We may support different clubs, but we could wear red, white, and blue together for the World Cup. Russia would be fun to see, and the World Cup would be an amazing experience, so this hits my top destinations list as well as my bucket list!

#2 (Jonathan):

The second stop on my tour of top 5 destinations would be England. Now, that’s pretty broad—you could have all kinds of experiences in England. The specific type of experience I would like to have is to immerse myself in 19th century England. Not the history (don’t care!), but the lifestyle. I want to live there for a month or whatever, and try to recreate life from the regency era, or even later victorian. I mean, it doesn’t have to go so far as dressing up (like that movie “Austenland”, although I wouldn’t be opposed), but I would prefer to not stay in any modern hotel or anything. I want to just live in some secluded country manor and feel like a local (a rich one). And I would definitely have to visit all the Charlotte Bronte sites.

#2 (Kelly):

I suppose that could be a fun trip, but if I only get five, I think this is where our vacation together would come to an end. I’d stop in England long enough to watch a soccer game (football match!) in a local pub with the rowdy supporters and then I’d be off to my real #2 destination…

I want to take a road trip across the United States. I want to hit all the continental states, every major city, and all the fun attractions in between. I’ve done mini versions of this and driven coast-to-coast and back again, but I wasn’t able to go everywhere and really take the time I wanted in each place. Give me two or three months, a smooth ride, an iPod full of my favorite tunes and the open road baby! I’d be in heaven. (Also, I vow right now, that I will do this before I die, so I guess this is on my bucket list too, lol)

#3 (Jonathan):

Okay, here’s a dream vacation I call “The James Bond Experience.” No, I don’t pretend to be a secret spy (but if there were such a vacation package, I’d totally do it). What I do is basically experience the ultimate in luxury and sophistication (like Bond). This includes cruising the Mediterranean in a private megayacht, and making stops along the coast to eat at private homes of cool people (no restaurants). Of course, we would have to stop in Montenegro, which is the location of the casino in “Casino Royale.” Although I don’t know what I’d do there, since I don’t gamble or drink or seduce women or thwart international terrorists. But I would wear a tuxedo.

#3 (Kelly): While Jonathan’s pulling out his tux and living the life of luxury in the Mediterranean, I’ll be busting out the hiking boots and backpack and heading to Mount Kilauea, Hawaii. Why? Because volcanoes are awesome. Duh.

I would love to get up close and personal with a live fire-spewing mountain. (Well, not too close, I guess…) And the fact that this particular volcano happens to be in the Hawaiian Islands, where I can enjoy a pig-roasting feast, learn to hula, and have a local hottie give me surfing lessons? (While I watch him from shore of course because getting in the ocean scares me.) Sign me up!

#4 (Jonathan):

Since Jurassic Park isn’t real, then I would have to fall back on the next best amusement park, Disneyland. The original Disneyland in LA, not any of the other parks in the world (don’t care!). Kelly, I already know what you’ll say: “But we live six hours from there, we go all the time.” That’s true, but I’m talking about doing Disneyland the RIGHT way, not the way we’re forced to do it because money is limited and we have four kids who would scratch their eyes out if we did it my way. MY way would be to take a full week, and we stay at the Grand Californian Hotel, of course. And we have a representative from Disney—like a Disney historian guru—who takes us all over the park, a little bit each day, explaining the history, pointing out little-known facts and quirks, giving us the whole VIP experience. We try all the different places to eat, and we get screenings at their theatre of various Disney animated films that inspired the rides. So basically, it becomes a nostalgic celebration of all things Disney, rather than just a mad rush to wait in lines for roller coasters.

#4 (Kelly): Jonathan is going to divorce me for saying this, but Disneyland isn’t my favorite amusement park. Give me rollercoasters, and lots of them! (Yeah, I’d definitely hit a few Six Flags on my cross-country road trip.) So, maybe I’d meet up with him in LA for lunch as I fly from Hawaii to my number 4 destination:

I would love to visit Rio de Janeiro! Well, I’d love to visit a lot of South America, but if I had to pick just one place, point me to Rio! Especially if it’s Carnival. It sounds intimidating and exciting all at the same time. This city is so rich in culture but it’s also surrounded by the Amazon rainforest, which is the main draw for me. I want to tour the Amazon and zipline through the jungle. (I‘ll just have to bring a bunch of valium with me because I have a serious phobia of bugs and, well, I hear the jungle is full of giant ones. But after my day excursions exploring the jungle I can come back to my nice cushy hotel, read a book on the beach for a while, eat some authentic Brazilian food, (YUM!), and scope out the local soccer team. (Also yum!)

#5 (Jonathan):

The circumlunar flight by Space Adventures. This is a real thing—Space Adventures is offering private flights around the moon, passing within 100 kms of the moon’s “dark side” and then watching the earth rise as you come out from behind the moon. They also offer programs for private citizens to train as an astronaut and live on the ISS (International Space Station), which would be an amazing package. This is all still a few years off and would cost millions, but I’m just sayin’…if I could, I would. In fact, if space travel were more practical and available, it would be my #1.

#5 (Kelly): Wow. The moon? That might be a little too adventurous for me. Though the idea of liftoff sounds like a hell of a ride, the thought of being in deep space gives me the creeps. (Much like scuba diving and being under the water.) Have fun with that one Jonathan, and make sure to take a selfie with the Earth in the background. While he’s off jet setting (rocket setting?) to the MOON, I think I’ll settle for South Africa.

Maybe it was my obsession with The Lion King when I was younger, or my love of animals, but I would LOVE to see Africa. I want to go on a guided safari. It’s like the zoo without all the cages! But don’t worry, I’d follow the rules and keep my windows rolled up so I don’t get eaten by Simba. Better yet, I want to hot air balloon over the savannah. That would be AMAZING. Hey Jonathan, our fifteenth anniversary is coming up next year. What do you think? Can we? I promise I’ll let you stay in the hotel that Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore stayed in in the movie Blended. (I’ll just get some ruggedly handsome safari guide with a five o’clock shadow and an elephant gun to take me out while you stay poolside.)

Jonathan: So there you go, our top ten destinations, which reveals a lot about ourselves. Most of Kelly’s are way too adventurous for me, and most of mine don’t involve hot male tour guides, so I guess we’re both on our own, lol. But hey, we’ll always have the World Cup!

 

Joni, Underway – Casting Pics

JONI, UNDERWAY – CAST LIST

This is the first book I ever co-authored. I actually wrote it with my husband. Be sure to check out our interview on the co-authoring process. Joni, Underway is available for $2.99 on Amazon or FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

This is our cast for the book. (THe post is actually written by Jonathan, though, not me. Have fun!

Hey, Jonathan here. One of the benefits of working together with Kelly on Joni, Underway was that we needed to establish a definite look for the main characters BEFORE any writing could start. When working alone, you can have a visual in your mind without worrying about how to make sure that others see the character the same way you do. When writing with a partner, however, there needs to be a certain level of agreement about what a character or location looks like. The simple solution to that? Casting! So we actually had most of these casting choices set before we even began writing. If Joni, Underway were made into a movie today, this would be our dream cast for the crew of sailing vessel Lady Marguerite…

 

JONI MONDAY – Brit Robertson

This was the easiest choice to make. In our minds, Brit IS Joni, and we wrote the character with Brit in mind. Her personality is the perfect fit, as she is down to earth and smart, but can be fun and quirky at the same time. Most importantly, she’s great at portraying quiet strength in the face of overwhelming odds. As for her look, she can be a stunner, but usually goes for the “girl next door” look, which is Joni all the way.

 

CAPTAIN REID – Jamie Dornan

This was a harder choice—not because of Jamie’s look, which is perfect for Reid—but because Jamie has mostly been seen in more brooding, dark roles, not to mention the fact that now everybody instantly associates his name with 50 Shades of Grey, so it can be hard to shake that off. In the end, he won the role for us because 1. He’s gorgeous, obviously, but in a way that seems European, if that makes any sense. As a bonus, he could totally pull off Reid’s “golden boy” look, with honey hair and brown eyes. 2. He’s got a natural accent, so again, easy to buy into the “hot foreigner” aspect. 3. Despite always playing darker roles, Jamie seems to be a great guy in real life, married with a kid. He’s a dad! We’d love to see Jamie finally play something light and fun, like Reid’s easy-going-beach-bum-with-a-heart-of-gold.

 

MURRAY AND GORDON – Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon

I know, this is cheating! Unfortunately, both of these actors have passed away, so we couldn’t really get them, but this is a DREAM cast, remember. Just watch “Grumpy Old Men” and you’ll have an easy time imagining Murray and Gordon. Murray is Walter Matthau, of course—the grumpier, more opinionated of the two. Matthau was great at playing a guy who was jaded and crabby, but in the quieter moments could really be a big softy. Perfect for Murray. And hey, if we really had to cast LIVING actors, we’d love to see Bill Murray play Murray!

JIM AND YVONNE – Bryan Cranston and Viola Davis

Viola Davis is another no-brainer. Beautiful (maybe a bit young for Yvonne) and authoritative and strong—easy to picture her being TOO strong, which is something that becomes an issue for Yvonne in the story. Cranston, of course, has proven that he is a master at playing the unassuming “normal guy” with deeper issues just waiting to surface. And we know he can do funny, so these two together would make the perfect mix of strong and tender.

 

STAR – Hayley Kiyoko

Another one that is not quite the right age anymore (Hayley is 24 now), but if we could go back in time and snatch her from “Lemonade Mouth”, we’d have our Star, the quiet anime artist and video game geek with parental issues.

Interview on the Girls With Glasses Show

A few years ago the lovely Girls With Glasses interviewed me. These are the clips from that interview. Enjoy!

 

Book Trailer – Being Jamie Baker

Being Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #1) – Official Book Trailer

So far, I’ve only got one book trailer, but it is a FUN one. Enjoy! And a special thanks to Bluefields Productions for the SUPERcute trailer!

 

 

 

“Working Out” (Being Jamie Baker – Ryan POV)

Being Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #1) Bonus Alternate POV scene

This is a scene from the first book retold from Ryan’s perspective. If you haven’t read Being Jamie Baker, I suggest you stop reading now, and read the book first as this post will spoil a great moment from the book. Being Jamie Baker is available for FREE on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo.  :)

 

 

“Working Out” from Ryan’s POV

My date with Jamie was amazing, but it was so G rated that I’d been a flustered mess all week. How I managed to get through that night without laying a single finger on her was nothing short of a miracle. There was no way I’d be able to do it again. I didn’t want to.

I was ready to push Jamie in a more physical direction so I suggested we work out together. At the time I thought it was brilliant because I could still use the pretense of practice, but we’d both be wearing less and our adrenaline would be up.

I hadn’t had the chance to take my shirt off for Jamie yet. Not that I’m as ripped as Ryan Reynolds exactly, but I’m not dumb. Girls act differently around me when I’m at the pool or out on the lake. It’s like I turn them primal. I wanted to turn Jamie primal.

My plan totally backfired.

There was definitely an overabundance of hormones present this afternoon, but they were all mine. Jamie is beyond hot even on her bad days, and I knew she’d look good working up a sweat. Still, I was not prepared for the sheer sexiness that is Jamie Baker working out.

Jamie is always put together. Her hair and makeup are always perfect. Her clothes are always stylish. She’s gorgeous. But when I’d picked her up this morning and found her makeup-less with her hair thrown up in a simple ponytail, wearing nothing but a sport-tank and tiny workout shorts, gorgeous wasn’t the right word to describe her. She looked so freaking hot I nearly had an aneurysm and she hadn’t even started her workout yet.

When we finally got to the exercising, I couldn’t focus on anything but the fact that in order for Jamie to actually put some strain on her muscles she had to bench my truck. Seriously. My F250. Nearly 6,000 lbs of machine and she just lifted it above her head over and over again. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.

Then she started breaking a sweat. Needless to say I forgot about her superpowers. The only thing I could think about was getting all worked up and sweaty with her. Feeling the hardness of her muscles beneath all that soft skin. Tasting salty kisses. Feeling heat rising between our bodies, our breaths coming fast…

Um, yeah…

“You know? I think you were right. Making you work out was a really bad idea.”

“Why?”

“Aside from the fact that the F-250 you’re pumping is making me feel extremely inadequate, I’m afraid that if you don’t stop doing that, you’re going to end up throwing it at me.”

Jamie looked at the vehicle above her. “Why would I throw a truck at you?

More images flashed through my mind. Definitely not G rated. “Because you usually get cranky when I try to kiss you, and if you don’t stop looking so downright sexy, I’m going to have to do just that.” And then some…

Jamie took a slow concentrated breath and the truck rose again. The muscles in her stomach tightened. A drop of sweat that had pooled in her naval rolled down the side of her ribs.

I took a much needed deep breath. Baseball… Frogs… Snowstorms… My grandma…

“I’ve never seen you break a sweat before. It’s got my mind in the gutter big-time.”

“Quit objectifying me right now, or I will throw this truck at you!”

Man, she’s hot when she’s pissed.

“Go take a cold shower or something while I finish.”

“I’ve got a better idea,” I said. “Why don’t you call it quits and come in the hot tub with me.”

Definitely a better idea.

“Oh yeah, that’s a brilliant idea. Why don’t you just take a soak with a blow dryer?”

Geez. She may have had a point there, but there was no need to be so hostile. I hoped it was because she was just as frustrated as me. I doubted it though. I’d been drooling over her for the last half an hour and she’d been so focused it was like I wasn’t even there.

I abandoned my weight bench for the patio swing and closed my eyes as I chugged a bottle of water.

I had to get myself under control or I was going to get really cranky. That couldn’t happen. I couldn’t let the Ice Queen get to me. Ever. That was the one thing I had over everyone else. Jamie could push people away in her sleep, but no matter how hard she tried she was not going to scare me off.

Jamie’s voice startled me out of my brooding. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“A really quiet humming noise. I can’t exactly place it, but I’ve never heard it out here before.”

I listened, but all I heard was nature. “It’s probably just a boat down on the lake.”

Jamie abandoned her workout. I couldn’t tell if I was disappointed by that or relieved.

She climbed out from under my truck and pointed toward the forest. “The lake is behind the house—this noise was coming from out there.” She scanned the trees and then frowned. “Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me. I tend to get a little paranoid when I’m doing things like lifting trucks out in the open.”

I sighed. Here I was stuck in the hottest fantasies about her and she was just worried that someone was watching her. So much for things getting physical between us. The only person I’d managed to turn primal today was me. Lame.

I sat up, disappointed, but then Jamie came to sit next to me on the swing. I took a chance and put my arm around her. I could have done a happy dance when she didn’t shrug me off. It was enough to perk my mood back up.

“All right then,” I said, feeling like my patience had been renewed. Is it sad that one arm over her shoulder felt like a magnanimous victory? “Why don’t we work on something a little more subtle if you’re worried? How about your hearing? I’ll start singing, and you go for a jog. Call me when you can’t hear me anymore. That’s not so obvious as bench-pressing my truck.”

I gave her a light squeeze—totally just friendly—but for some reason it was the absolute wrong move. “I don’t feel like practicing anymore today,” she said sadly.

I didn’t get it. What had I done now? I swear sometimes it’s like Jamie’s bi-polar. I never have a clue what’s running through her head. I wonder if crazy mood swings are considered a superpower.

Seeing Jamie upset kills me. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like to be her. She’s been through so much, and I know she feels like she’s alone in this but she’s wrong. She might be the only one with superpowers, but I was there now, and I was going to get through this with her. Whether she wanted me to or not.

“All right,” I said, forcing cheer into my voice that I didn’t feel.

I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and make her tell me what was wrong so that I could help her feel better. But the more I push her the more she closes off from me, so, as impossible as felt, all I could do was be patient and wait for her to let me in.

“It’s lunch time anyway,” I said, “and I’ve officially worked up an appetite.”

Jamie jumped on that idea, happy to avoid telling me what was up. “You like New York-style pizza?” she asked.

She had my attention now. If I wasn’t going to get a hot makeout session, pizza was better than nothing. “I’m a guy. I love all forms of pizza.”

“Well I happen to know where to find the best pizza in the country, so why don’t you point me in the direction of a bathroom, and once I’m all cleaned up I’ll run get us lunch.”

Now that would just be a shame. “Aw come on Baker, I’m digging that post-workout look.”

She rolled her eyes at my flirting. Rolled her eyes. Was I ever going to get to kiss that girl again?

“More like post-workout stink,” she said. “Don’t forget I have a heightened sense of smell.”

“Gross.” Mood officially dead. Way to go, Jamie.

“The Superkiss” (Being Jamie Baker – Ryan POV)

Being Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #1) Bonus Alternate POV scene

This is a scene from the first book retold from Ryan’s perspective. If you haven’t read Being Jamie Baker, I suggest you stop reading now, and read the book first as this post will spoil a great moment from the book. Being Jamie Baker is available for FREE on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, and Kobo.  :)

 

“The Superkiss” from Ryan’s POV

As I waited for Jamie to come back with lunch, I took one last sniff of myself. I was all zesty-fresh. After her comment about her heightened sense of smell I’d scrubbed every inch of me twice, had a heyday with the mouthwash, and splashed the tiniest molecule of cologne on. I’d probably be paranoid about how I smelled for the rest of my life now.

A minute later pepperoni, onions, and garlic overpowered the scent of Irish Spring. Jamie was back, and the pizza she set down in front of me looked and smelled like a work of art. Where in the world had she found this? Definitely not here. I would know if pizza like this existed anywhere even close to the Sacramento metro area.

“I’m telling you, best pizza in the country,” Jamie said, smiling proudly at my obvious excitement.

“This looks amazing! Where did you get this from?”

“This little town in Illinois.”

I blinked. Did she just say Illinois? “You mean that state clear on the East Coast?”

“Well, technically it’s the Midwest. Did you sleep through geography too?”

I was too stunned to care where the state of Illinois fell on a map. “Whatever. I just meant that it’s not exactly around the corner.”

I picked up a slice of pizza. I was almost afraid to eat it because the thought that it had been cooked a thousand miles away seemed to make it priceless. But it looked seriously good, so I got over the shock and just enjoyed the fact that dating Jamie Baker had some sweet perks.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the impossibility of Jamie as I ate slice after slice of her Illinois pizza. By my fourth piece I simply had to voice my amazement. “I can’t believe you just went all the way to Illinois.”

“It is kind of surreal sometimes when I think about what I can do.”

Kind of surreal? That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one. If only I could do the things she could.

“I wish I had powers too. How much fun would it be if I could just go tromping around the country on a whim and still be back in time for dinner? I’d be at Miami Beach all the time. Or New York.”

My mind drifted off into a hundred different possibilities—places I could go with Jamie if I had powers too. Things we could do together. And it was all be that much more exciting because it would be our little—okay huge—secret. I wonder if I could get my hands on a radioactive spider.

I was imagining us alone on a beach in Cabo by the time Jamie pulled me from my daydream.

“What?” I asked.

Her cheeks instantly went bright red. Could it be that she was mentally on that beach in Cabo with me? Before I could ask her what color her bikini was, she cleared her throat and said, “If I could take you anywhere with me, I’d take you to the Grand Canyon, not New York. Best sunsets on the planet.”

Not a beach in Cabo, but still. I’d take it. In fact, the Grand Canyon had never sounded so good to me. Romantic sunsets, a billion stars in the sky, me, Jamie, and not another soul around for miles and miles… Hey, she could even still wear the bikini if she wanted. I wouldn’t discourage her.

“We’ll plan a trip sometime.” I was already hashing out the details in my brain. “You’ll just have to go by plane like us mere mortals.”

She groaned, and I laughed. I knew she’d appreciate that one. “Like you mortals?” she said. “Oh, please! Shut up and eat that last piece.”

I have to tease her about the superpower thing as much as possible because to her being different the way she is feels like the end of the world. But it’s not really. If I had a truckload of toxic waste to douse myself in, I’d juice myself with some power lines in a heartbeat just to prove it to her.

“Can I ask you a question?” I blurted suddenly.

“Sure.”

There was one thing that had always bothered me about Jamie’s story, and every time I considered finding a vat of toxic waste to bathe in I felt desperate to ask it. Apparently now was the time.

“But you have to promise not to freak out.” This conversation was sure to upset her, but it was too late now.

“Okay,” she said slowly.

I kicked myself. I’d already put her on edge and I hadn’t even asked the question yet. “I was just wondering…” Suddenly I wasn’t sure I could ask.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was just thinking about how you got your powers.”

“And?”

I gulped. How exactly is the best way to bring up the subject of her dead boyfriend? “I was just wondering why… Derek”—it was hard to say the guy’s name—“didn’t end up like you.”

My stomach turned to knots as I watched the blood drain from Jamie’s face. “I don’t mean to pry,” I said gently. “It’s just that, well, if it was the waste from the truck combined with the electricity that gave you your powers, then shouldn’t Derek have gotten them too, instead of… you know…”

My voice trailed off. I hated bringing up such a painful memory. The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt her, but it just didn’t make any sense, and if we really wanted to get to the truth behind her powers, then I needed to know.

Jamie looked terrified, but she’s tough and I knew she could handle it so I waited expectantly and was eventually rewarded.

“Derek wasn’t in the car when the truck hit me. He wasn’t sprayed with the chemicals, just electrocuted.”

I guess it made sense why he didn’t get powers then, but I was still confused. “What was he doing if he wasn’t in the car with you? Where was he?”

“We were coming back from this place we liked to go to sometimes.  An old bridge over a big irrigation canal hidden in the middle of a cornfield.”

My thoughts came to an abrupt stop. I felt like I’d just taken a baseball bat to the gut. She’d been out in the middle of a cornfield with the guy? Alone?

“It’s a nice quiet place for stargazing.”

I’ll bet it was. And I’ll bet this Derek guy was paying really close attention to all those stars.

She said something else then. Something about beating him back to the car, but I was having a hard time paying attention because another thought had now occurred to me. Exactly how far had she gone with her last boyfriend?

I’d always assumed Jamie was somewhere on the pure side of the scale—not, you know, as white as snow or anything considering how she’d straddled my lap and kissed me senseless in front of the entire school—but she was shy enough with me that I doubted she’d been much further than a good makeout session.

Jealousy is a rare feeling for me. I was caught off guard by the severity of it, and I really didn’t like it. It seemed stupid to be jealous of a dead guy, but Jamie was really, really broken up over him, and if she’d been sneaking off to cornfields with him…

Had Jamie actually loved Derek? Had she given herself to him? If so, that sucked. It was bad enough having to compete with a ghost, but if their connection had been that deep, then she was a lot more hurt than I realized, and all my attempts to push her into a relationship with me were probably only making things worse.

For a moment I felt completely sick to my stomach. What if she couldn’t get past him? What if there was no way to win her heart? What if her heart was too broken?

I was working up the courage to ask her if she’d loved Derek when she broke the silence. “Can I ask you a question?”

I was surprised by the request, and so relieved to be stopped from asking what was probably the stupidest question I could ask that I nodded happily. “Sure, anything.”

“What’s the story with you and Becky? Why haven’t you guys ever gone out?”

I was completely blindsided by the question. Weren’t we just talking about the death of her first lover? How in the world did Becky get into this conversation?

“Um…” I was so startled that it took me a second to even remember what she’d asked me. “Well, actually we did for a while. Kind of. If sixth grade counts.”

Suddenly I was transported back to the sixth grade and Becky’s twelfth birthday. My parents were having the mother of all fights, so I snuck out and crashed her sleepover. Her friends had forced us into a closet saying I needed to give her a birthday present before I could leave. I smiled at the memory. “She was my first kiss.”

Jamie’s quiet “Oh” brought me back to the present, and, a little too late, I put all the pieces together. “You’re not worried about Becky, are you?” I asked.

Maybe Jamie wasn’t as hung up on her last boyfriend as I’d thought, because she looked disappointed by the idea of me being interested in Becky. That frown was seriously the best thing that had happened all day. As long as there was even a tiny spark of interest from Jamie, that was all I needed. She’d just given me the opening I’d been waiting for.

“There’s nothing like that going on between us anymore,” I said. “There hasn’t been for years and years. I promise you, Jamie, you have nothing to worry about.”

Jamie made a face I couldn’t decipher.

“That’s exactly what worries me though, Ryan—the fact that there’s nothing going on. Becky is so pretty, and aside from how she feels about me, she seems really nice. You obviously care a great deal for her. She could be the perfect girlfriend for you. That’s something I could never be. You deserve the things she could give you, all the things I can’t.”

So that was her game plan this time? Pull the we-can’t-kiss card and point me in the direction of another girl? Did she really think she’d be able to get rid of me so easily?

Nice try, Jamie Baker, but I don’t think so.

I was about to laugh at her but then I noticed tears in her eyes. Apparently this wasn’t another of her measly attempts to scare me off. She was serious!

I was simultaneously horrified that she thought I’d be better off with Becky than her, and thrilled that she liked me enough to be upset because she thought she didn’t deserve me.

Suddenly desperate to make Jamie understand exactly how much I wanted her, I leapt out of my seat and pulled her into my arms. “But she can’t be you,” I promised. “Don’t you understand that you’re the one I want? You. Not Becky or Paige or any other girl that may or may not be able to make out with me. Just you.”

I was so serious that I nearly shouted it at her. I had to make her understand. Ever since the day she’d kissed me there was no other girl. What girl at Rocklin High could compare to her?

I’m not just talking about her superpowers either. Jamie didn’t play games the way girls like Paige did. She didn’t care what anyone thought about her. She wasn’t stupid, and she challenged me like no one else ever has.

Jamie was the most amazing person I’d ever known. And since she’d raised the bar to impossibly high standards, she was just going to have to buck up and be mine. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“No,” she whispered as if she’d read my thoughts. “You shouldn’t want me, Ryan.”

Jamie pulled herself out of my grasp and took off around the porch to the front of the house. But she was moving at a regular human pace. If she wasn’t going to disappear at superspeed, then I wasn’t going to let her go. I caught her by the wrist just before she made it to the front porch steps and tugged her down onto the swing with me.

“Oh, no you don’t,” I said. “You are not running away from me this time.”

“Ryan, please.”

“No!” I said and trapped her in my arms.

She strained against my grip, but the girl had superstrength and speed. Not to mention she could zap me silly. If she really wanted to go, she could have.

“If you don’t want to be with me because you’re not ready for another relationship or you don’t like me that way, then that’s fine,” I said. “I can respect that. I could even deal with the excuse that you’re just too scared. That’s a lame excuse, but it’s one I could live with. What I can’t live with is you playing the martyr because you don’t think you’re good enough for me, understand?”

Jamie didn’t respond, but she stopped fighting me. I waited until I was sure she wasn’t going to bail and then let her go. Her whole body sagged like she just given up some big internal fight. I took that as an okay to pull her against me. Surprisingly, she sank into my side and let me hold her.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. I think I even sighed a little. There is nothing like the feeling of having Jamie in my arms, and she doesn’t let me keep her there nearly often enough.

Taking advantage of this miraculous opportunity, I kissed the side of her head and slipped my arm low around her waist. For the briefest moment my fingers brushed her skin along the hem of her shirt. It was enough to make my brain stop processing logical thought. My other hand quickly found her stomach. The simple touch made me shiver.

“Ryan,” Jamie said with a sigh. It was a warning. Jamie never used to let me get within a foot of her, but she’d slowly been giving in an inch at a time until once or twice I’ve actually been allowed to make physical contact. She always ends it too quickly though.

“Shh,” I said, cutting her off before she found an excuse to put some distance between us. “We’re just going to sit here for a minute.”

I took my fingers off her skin and had to lace them together to keep them from roaming. If they did, Jamie would kill me. Literally. And quite possibly on purpose.

I hated that I could hardly ever touch her, but I knew she kept me at a distance because she was scared of hurting me. I was grateful that she was at least trying to learn to control her power. Being patient was near impossible, though, so I had to remind myself that she’d never lasted this long before.

It’s a rare instance when Jamie really, truly lets her guard down, but it’s those moments that keep me fighting for her. She’s like chasing a dream, something magical and impossible, but when she lets me touch her I’m reminded that she’s real.

Her vulnerable side makes her seem more human. She becomes someone I can relate to, someone I can protect. She becomes someone I could see myself falling for, and the scariest part about that is that that doesn’t scare me.

After another minute Jamie relaxed again. I unlocked my hands and started trailing my fingers lightly up and down her arms. I knew this could flip her dreaded ice queen switch, but I was unable to help myself.

Jamie’s skin has this unique quality of feeling alive. When she’s upset you have to watch out because touching her is going to bite you, but when she’s relaxed? I can’t fully express how amazing it feels to touch her.

Her skin warms to the touch and feels tingly. Something about her energy literally draws you closer, like a magnetic pull. It causes an almost uncontrollable craving.

My hand moved to the narrow strip of her stomach exposed between her shirt and jeans, and she gasped. It was a good gasp. It was a this-feels-incredible gasp. It pushed my control over the edge. I needed more of her. Now.

“Jamie?”

Her response was breathless. “Hmm?”

“Kiss me.”

“No,” she whispered even though her body shuddered with desire. She wanted this as much as I did. I was sure of it.

“You’re ready,” I said, bringing my face down to her neck. “If you can handle this, then you can handle just one kiss.” I nudged her jaw up a little, brought my lips to her ear, and whispered a desperate, “Please?”

She didn’t say anything, but she wasn’t freaking out yet either.

I moved more slowly than I ever had in my life, giving her all the time in the world to stop me, but she wasn’t going to.

My heart was hammering. I’d wanted this for so long. I couldn’t believe I was finally going to get it. I held my breath as I lowered my lips on to hers.

When we touched something inside her cracked. Her resistance shattered. It was like our first kiss only so much more. She fell into the kiss as if propelled by an invisible force.

It was sensory overload. I could feel and taste her unbridled heat and desire. It worked with my own need to create an explosion of passion that I thought only existed in cheesy girl novels.

But then on top of that there was the magical electricity that was uniquely Jamie. It washed over me like a tidal wave of energy that brought me to life in a way I’d never felt before.

Jamie noticed my hair standing on end and started to pull away, but I was so not going to let a little static end this kiss. “No,” I said, gripping her tighter to me. “No, it’s okay.”

To prove my point I crashed my lips down on hers again with everything I had in me. This kiss had been a long time coming and I was going to make sure she’d remember it for the rest of her life.

My senses heightened. I could hear things more clearly, taste and smell things I couldn’t before, and most of all I could feel everything like it was being blasted at me with hurricane force.

After I don’t even know how long my body was filled to the brim with energy. I began to shake and felt Jamie panic in response. She pressed her hands to my chest, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t to feel me up. She pushed me back, trying to break our connection, but she wasn’t thinking clearly and accidentally sent be flying.

As I flew through the air I was on such a high that I felt as if the world around me was moving in slow motion. My senses were still in overdrive and the pain of the impact when I hit the ground was so intense I couldn’t breathe. Whatever. Small price to pay for that experience.

Seriously, Jamie Baker = Best. Kisser. Ever.

I sat up slowly sure that something was broken. I should have been dead, or at least hurt. Jamie had thrown me so far I swear I was half way to the highway, but, miraculously, I was fine—just a little stiff.

Then my eyes fell on Jamie and I wondered if I didn’t have a concussion because I was seeing things. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of an X-men comic. She was standing on the front steps of the cabin looking like the ice queen version of Storm. Her hair was whipping all around her like she was standing in a tornado, except there wasn’t any wind, and her eyes were glowing. It was the first time I ever looked at her and truly saw her as a superhero.

She looked dangerous and powerful and so freaking hot, but she also looked seriously freaked out. Something was very wrong. Her entire body started shaking like it was trying to explode.

“Jamie!”

When I screamed her body jolted and then lightning came shooting out from her hands. I ducked and could feel the heat of the electricity pass over my head. I don’t even want to know how close it came to blasting me into oblivion. Especially when I heard it crash into a tree behind me with an explosion so loud it rattled my insides.

I shouted Jamie’s name again, scared that she was hurt, but not only was she just fine, she was screaming like I was the one in danger.

“Look out!”

I looked up where she was pointing just in time to see death coming at me at full speed. A huge pine tree was falling and there was no way I cold move in time to get out of the way.

My hands came up instinctively, but before I had time to assume crash position, and cover my head, I was actually holding the two-foot think trunk in my hands. I’d caught the tree! I was holding a freaking tree above my head! Granted it probably wasn’t as heavy as my truck, but no way could a regular human do what I was doing at the moment.

Jamie and I stared at one another for a moment, equally stunned, but then I felt my lips spreading in idiotic proportions on my face. I didn’t know why or how, but I definitely had superstrength!

Say it with me: AWESOME!

Testing the theory I flexed my arms and gave the tree a little push. Much like Jamie had just flung me, I tossed the tree half a football field into the forest.

I smiled at Jamie again and then laughed. “That was freaking awesome!”

I started to get up slowly testing the muscles and joints that still felt stiff, but before I got all the way to my feet Jamie collapsed and I forgot all about any possible injuries I might have.

I ran to her and just as I went to scoop her up her eyes fluttered open and the blood drained from her face. “”No! Wait!” she screamed, but it was too late.

I now knew how Timmy felt in Jurassic Park when the T-Rex’s fence turned back on with him still on it. I imagine it’s a lot like a TV dinner feels like—completely cooked from the inside out. FYI? I sucks. A lot.

I was pretty sure the shock was going to kill me. And just when I’d joined the ranks of superheroes! That sucks. But as I blacked out, there was only one thing I thought about. Kissing Jamie Baker? So worth it!

Kissing Jamie Baker (Ryan POV)

Here is chapter 1 of Being Jamie Baker from Ryan’s point of view. Enjoy! :)

 

Only three things in the world have ever truly blown my mind.

The first was when my dad explained the truth about Santa Clause. The jolly old guy was my idol. He had been my whole life. He drove the sweetest ride, gave me lots of presents, and lived on a diet of cookies and hot chocolate. Seriously—Coolest. Dude. Ever.

When I was seven my mom was helping me write a letter to him like she did every year. My dad walked in the room, gave my mom a look, took the letter from me, and, with a sigh, said, “Son, you’re practically a man now.” I’d beamed at the praise until he followed it with, “So it’s time we blow this Santa crap out of the water before your momma turns you into a complete sissy.” When my eyes got really big my dad gave me a grim smile and said, “You don’t want the other kids at school to make fun of you, do you?”

I shook my head and proceeded to pay close attention as he explained that Santa was, in fact, not real. While he was at it he also debunked the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and the X-men. Life as I’d known it was changed forever.

The second life-bomb came when my mom met Gene. Her divorce with Dad had come as no surprise, and while it sucked, it was sort of a relief too. My parents’ fighting was exhausting, and I was glad to see it end. But mom was pretty messed up for a while, so two years later when she hadn’t so much as looked at another man—to my knowledge anyway—and she got engaged, I was floored.

Mom explained that she’d met Gene a month before at some self-help seminar, and that they’d been getting to know each other via the internet ever since. She hadn’t wanted to worry me until she was sure things were serious, but they’d fallen in love faster than she’d ever anticipated. It was the first I’d ever even heard of the guy’s existence and he was asking my permission to marry my mother. Unreal.

I don’t lose my temper often, but if Mom hadn’t looked so disgustingly happy I might have decked the guy. Instead I shook his hand and said welcome to the family. Then I nearly peed my pants when he took us back to his “house” and I discovered he was essentially Daddy Warbucks and was flying us all on his private jet to his villa in Tuscany for the summer where they would be married.

After that I never thought anything would surprise me ever again. Then one day I made a random bet with Mike Driscoll and my world wasn’t just changed, it was rocked so hard that I was changed. Sure, I’d survived Santa and a step-dad relatively unscathed, but one encounter with the Ice Queen and I was never the same again.

I guess this story starts with Paige Shultz since she’s really what pushed me to brave the wrath of Rocklin High’s scariest resident. Paige was captain of the cheer squad. She was super outgoing and friendly—as long as she liked you. She was hot too, but it was that generic hot that runs rampant in California. Great body and a nice face, but bottle blond hair, a little too much make-up, and maybe not quite enough clothing. My friends and I call her a dime because girls like her are a dime a dozen.

She hung with my group of friends, and I liked her well enough, I just had no desire to date her. Unfortunately, dating me seemed to be her number one priority lately, so things were a little awkward, and I’d been doing my best to subtly avoid her. It didn’t always work.

I’d just arrived at school and was about to round the administration building into the quad when a hand slammed down on my shoulder. “I wouldn’t go that way if I were you,” my best friend, Mike Driscoll said with a grimace. At my questioning look he pointed to a poster on the wall beside me. “Homecoming committee is hanging a banner in the quad right now, and they’re on the hunt for strapping young volunteers to rope into all their grunt work. I don’t know about you but I am not going to spend the next three weeks as some cheerleader’s go-fer, carrying boxes of glittery crap and honing my paper mache skills.”

“Good call.” I shuddered. He was right. That sounded like a nightmare, and not just because Paige was on the homecoming committee. Mike and I quickly ducked into the admin building. We could cut through here and get to our first classes safely.

“Ryan! Mike! Just the guys I was looking for.”

Crap. Paige was in the front office. The clipboard she was cradling looked awfully foreboding. “Good morning, Paige,” I said carefully.

She laughed at the wariness in my voice. Or maybe it was the look on Mike’s face that had her rolling her eyes. “Relax you guys, we already suckered the JV guys into helping us. I just wanted to tell you the good news.” Mike and I exchanged a confused glance. “You’ve both been nominated for Homecoming King! Isn’t that great?”

“Is that all?” I burst into relieved laughter. My nightmares of being the new co-committee chair evaporated.

Paige’s face fell. “You’re not excited?”

“Sure,” I said quickly. I felt bad for upsetting her. She really did put a lot of effort into the dances at this school. “It’s great news.” I laughed and elbowed Mike as I added, “For me anyway. All it means for Mike is a humiliating defeat in front of the whole school.”

Mike punched me in the arm and muttered some comeback that I didn’t hear over Paige’s laughter. “Oh, Ryan. You are so funny!”

“I wasn’t joking,” I said honestly. “It’s all about positive thinking. My step dad says if you don’t believe you can get what you want, you’re just setting yourself up for failure. You can’t just want it though. You’ve got to know you can get it.” I shrugged. “I know I can win.”

Mike rolled his eyes. He thinks my step dad is a nutcase, but we’d see how crazy Gene is when I was crowned King instead of Mike. Paige, on the other hand, smiled dangerously. “Well if that’s all it takes,” she said, sidling right up next to me. “Did you just want to start calling me your queen now, or should we wait until it’s official?”

She was practically purring. I kicked myself internally. I should have known the second the dance was brought up that she was fishing for a date. I didn’t really want to take her to the dance, but I didn’t want to totally reject her and hurt her feelings either, and I didn’t have a good reason not to ask her.

I forced my best smile. “That’s exactly the attitude I’m talking about. You’ll be queen in no time.” I winked at her and shuffled my backpack onto my other shoulder, making an obvious effort to read the clock on the wall. “Whoa. Better get to class. I’ve been late so many times this year even I couldn’t charm my way out of detention if I get another tardy.”

“Oh, please.” Paige laughed. “You could charm your way out of anything. See you guys at lunch.”

Once we were outside Mike nudged me. “Nice dodge. What’s up? You don’t want to take Paige? Because in case you missed it, that was her practically begging you to ask her.”

“It’s early still,” I said vaguely. “Ask a girl now and it’s three weeks of constant nagging. Dress, tux, limo, dinner, after party… Chicks stress to death about that crap. Especially Paige.”

“True. But don’t wait too long to ask or she’ll get snapped up. I heard Scott was thinking about asking her. You don’t want to be stuck taking Dogface Deidra.”

I tried not to sigh. I needed to figure out what to do, but I couldn’t talk to Mike about it. He’s my boy and all, but he’s got a big mouth. I couldn’t tell him I didn’t like Paige. It’d be all over the school in exaggerated rumors by third period.

No, I have to save all my secrets for Becky. She’s been my best friend since second grade. Besides the fact that I tell her pretty much everything, she’d also know what I should do about Paige. She’s Paige’s close friend and probably the only girl in school that Paige takes orders from. She’d be able to help me out for sure. I made a mental note to talk to her about it at lunch.

My plan didn’t work however, because at lunch the girls were all conspicuously not sitting with us. “Where is everyone?” I asked Mike, plopping my tray of food down next to his.

Without word Mike pointed to the other end of the cafeteria where it looked like the homecoming committee was hard at work doing whatever it was they do. “What do you suppose they’re talking about? It’s just a dance, not rocket science.”

“Who cares?” Mike replied. “Lets use the opportunity to get down to business. I think I’m gonna take Becky to homecoming.”

This was not good news. I’d decided over the course of the morning that I needed to take Becky as my date. It was the only way I could get out of having to take Paige without completely dissing her. “Dude, you took her to junior prom.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So it’s my turn,” I insisted. “I’m taking her to homecoming.”

“Over my dead body,” Mike argued. “She’s the hottest girl in school. As captain of the football team it’s my right to have first pick.”

I couldn’t help laughing at this. It was true he was the captain of our team, but it was no mystery who the school favorite was. “Says who? I’m the quarterback. Everyone knows I’m the real star. Besides, I’m better looking than you. I bet if we asked her at the same time, she’d pick me.”

Mike snorted. “Would not.”

“Would too.”

“So would not.”

“Should we try it?” I asked. “Right now. Let’s go over there and ask her together. Five bucks says she’ll go with me.”

I pulled out a five-dollar bill and waved it in Mike’s face. I was confident. No way Becky would pick Mike over me if I asked her. In fact, I’m not sure there was a girl in the entire school who would pick Mike over me.

Mike noticed me look around the cafeteria and seemed to read my thoughts. “Oh put your money away idiot. I called dibbs first, so I’m taking Becky. End of story.”

Well, he had a point there. Honor code dictated that I concede to him now since he spoke up first. Oh well. Becky would have fun with him and I was sure there had to be some other way to get Paige off my case. Becky would help me think of something.

“All right, fine,” I said. “I give. She’s all yours. But I call dibs on her right now for senior prom.”

I slipped my money back in my pocket, laughing, until my eyes reached the corner of the cafeteria and fell on a pair of mysterious green eyes half-hidden beneath long, black hair so shiny it screamed, “Touch me.”

Jamie Baker.

My eyes had drifted her direction so many times since she showed up at our school that I’d lost count. I couldn’t help it. She was the opposite of generic hot. She was look-but-don’t-touch hot. Worship-but-be-afraid hot. She was hot personified. No one could deny that, not even Mike.

A plan began to form in my head. “Technically,” I said, elbowing Mike to get his attention again. “Jamie Baker is hotter than Becky. If you want to take the hottest girl in school, then you have to take her.”

Mike followed my gaze and immediately broke into obnoxious laughter. “Yeah, she’s hot all right.” He snorted, leering at Jamie the way we all do. But his smile quickly turned bitter. “For an ice queen. Becky is the hottest normal girl in school. Jamie would never go to the dance with anyone.”

Unfortunately, Mike was right about Jamie. She was most definitely an ice queen. That’s what made this all the more interesting. “Not even the great Mike Driscoll?” I goaded him. “You always say you could get any girl in this school.”

Mike frowned. “Jamie doesn’t count. The chick’s a total loner.”

This was also completely true of Jamie. But honestly, that was part of her appeal. She wasn’t like any of the other girls in school. She wasn’t like any other girl I’d ever met. I think that was the reason for the obsession I’d developed since her arrival. Okay, not obsession, that’s a strong word. It was more like a healthy curiosity.

It’s just that girls are so easy. Give them a smile, say something nice, and the next thing you know they’re planning your wedding and naming your babies. I couldn’t exactly imagine Jamie Baker giggling and doodling “I <3 Ryan” in the spine of her notebooks all the time like all the other girls in this school do.

But there had to be something to her besides ice.

“Maybe she’s just misunderstood,” I said lightly. I didn’t want to sound like I was defending her. I didn’t want Mike to realize that I was honestly interested in the school outcast. I’d never live that down.

“Maybe she’s just a cold-hearted freak.”

I frowned at Mike’s use of the word freak. I didn’t really think Jamie was a freak, but I also understood Mike’s bitterness. He’d been the Ice Queen’s first victim after all. We’d both noticed her the moment she stepped foot on the grounds of Rocklin High, and Mike was just the poor soul who got to her first. He asked her out in front of all our teammates and she’d sized him up with that cold stare of hers and actually laughed in his face. She was unnecessarily cruel with her rejection and made herself a school full of enemies before even reaching the front steps.

I couldn’t understand it. She was the new girl. She should have wanted to make friends. She should have been nervous. And here was Mike, who the ladies don’t hesitated to line up for, being nice and friendly and giving her the chance to be inducted into the top of the high school social food chain. It should have been a relief. His invitation should have been any girl’s dream come true.

I was so confused by her that I’d gone home that day and asked my mom and Gene about it. Gene explained to me in a lot of his self-help psychobabble—most of which I didn’t understand—that essentially it sounded like a self-preservation thing. You know, hurt them before they can hurt you. That made me curious about her and as I watched her after that I’d decided that Gene was right.

“I bet I could get her to go with me,” I blurted suddenly.

“Jamie Baker?” Mike busted up again, laughing so hard his eyes teared up. “I’ll bet you couldn’t even get her to talk to you.”

I looked at Jamie again, considering. “Yeah, I could,” I decided. Sure she was an ice queen, but she had to be lonely. She’d been friendless at this school for over a year now and nobody could hold out forever. Maybe she was over whatever it was that had caused her to exile herself, but she’d already dug her grave and was stuck in it. Nobody had dared talk to her in months and months. Maybe she just needed to be given another chance. I could do that.

“I bet I could go over there, strike up a conversation, and get her number by the end of lunch.”

“You think you could get Jamie’s phone number?” Mike repeated incredulously.

“I just said I could, didn’t I?”

“No way.”

“Okay, how about this. If I can get Jamie’s number by the end of lunch, then I get to take Becky to homecoming. If not, then you get to take her instead.”

This plan had to work. Mike was so jaded against Jamie that he’d be sure I couldn’t do it. He’d also be way too eager to watch me fail to pass up the opportunity.

Mike glanced back at Jamie, intrigued, and then grinned. I so had him. Becky was as good as my date already.

“Make it a kiss, and you’re on,” he said.

A kiss? Crap. There was no way I could get the Ice Queen to kiss me by the end of lunch. Maybe if I had a week, but ten minutes? Not possible. But I’d also talked myself up so much just now that I couldn’t back out either. “I kiss Jamie Baker and I get to take Becky to homecoming?” I clarified. Maybe I could go for a sneak attack of some kind. She’d probably hunt me down and murder me in my sleep for it, but at least I’d win the bet.

“Not exactly,” Mike said, clearly understanding my train of thought. “Anybody can just kiss someone. You have to get her to kiss you, or the deal’s off.”

Great. I was so screwed. “Before lunch is over?” I asked, stalling while I frantically tried to come up with some kind of plan.

Mike heard the uncertainty in my voice and laughed. “Yup!” he chirped victoriously, slapping a hand on my back. “You’ve only got ten minutes, Casanova. Better go make your move.”

Well. And I’d done this to myself. I took a deep breath as I slowly got to my feet. One look at the smug smile on Mike’s face and I became determined. I was freaking Ryan Miller. I could not let Mike win when the stupid bet had been my idea. Think positively, I reminded myself as I made my way across the cafeteria. You’ve got this Ryan. She’s going to kiss you. Never met a girl who’d turned you down yet. Why should she be any different?

And then suddenly I was standing right in front of her. “Hey, Jamie,” I said confidently. “Mind if I sit for a minute?”

I braced myself and waited for her to look up at me, but she didn’t. She didn’t respond at all. She completely ignored me, making my stomach flip from nerves. I glanced back at Mike, who was already laughing and then steeled myself. I could do this. She hadn’t responded, but she hadn’t told me to get lost either.

I pulled out the chair next to her and turned it so that I couldn’t see Mike’s face. I’m sure he was telling the other guys what was going on now and they were probably all waiting for my failure. I took a deep breath and tried to think.

She was just a girl. I knew girls. Some might even say they were my best subject. So what was my best approach? Obviously not a pickup line. Mom always says all girls want is sincerity. She says to compliment them, but you have to mean it or they’ll see right through you. So… compliment Jamie. But how? What could I possibly say? “Excuse me, I know we’ve never spoken before but you’re smoking hot. Will you make out with me?” I don’t think so.

A soft snort snapped me from my thoughts and when I saw the smirk on Jamie’s face I realized I was bouncing my knees. She knew I was nervous. She knew I was nervous and she was laughing at me. Man, for the first time in my life I started to think I was out of my league.

Oh, she was good. She’d almost broken me with one single smirk. No way. She wasn’t going to get the better of me any more than Mike was going to. If she was willing to laugh at my nerves then there was only one approach I could think of. And if she didn’t like it, then too bad for her.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees so that our faces would only be inches apart. She wasn’t the only one who could be intense. I could tell from the look on her face that she was expecting a player. Well she wasn’t going to get one. I knew the game, but I didn’t play it.

“Here’s the thing,” I said bluntly. “If I can’t kiss you by the end of lunch, then I have to let Mike take Becky Eastman to homecoming, and I already made dinner reservations at her favorite restaurant.”

Chew on that, Ice Queen.

It took her a minute to say anything. “That’s one I’ve never heard before.”

Her voice was dry, but her lips twitched at the corners once. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like she’d had to suppress a smile. Maybe my no nonsense approach was working. I shrugged, trying to look indifferent. “A girl as hot as you can’t be a stranger to the game, so I figured honesty might be my only shot.”

She still wouldn’t look at me, but at least she hadn’t freaked out on me. I waited for the inevitable verbal smack down. I waited for the shards of ice to come flying at me. Heaven knows with that line I totally deserved it. But instead she surprised me.

“I’ll admit, it was probably the closest thing you had to a shot.”

The reply wasn’t even sarcastic. She sounded almost… amused. It was shocking really. This wasn’t the Ice Queen sitting in front of me. This was a totally chill girl who didn’t seem to care at all that my friend and I had made her the subject of a completely insulting—not to mention objectifying—bet. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t getting reamed right now.

It was so surprising that I lightened up and couldn’t help the grin on my face. I’d imagined talking to this girl for a year and I’d never pictured it going like this. “Okay, what about bribery?” I offered playfully.

“Sorry.”

That was still a no, but her lips twitched again and I found it highly encouraging. “Aw, come on, Jamie. It won’t mean anything. I won’t even use tongue,” I joked. I decided to play on her dislike of Mike. Obviously I was the lesser of two evils if she hadn’t gone Ice Queen on me yet when she’d ripped Mike apart in five seconds flat. “You don’t really want Mike to win, do you?”

I held my breath while I waited for her to respond. She sighed, the smallest sigh that I couldn’t decipher, and finally turned to face me. My breath caught in my lungs as I met her brilliant gaze. She’d caught me staring at her once or twice before, but we’d never made eye contact like this. Especially not so close that I could see exactly how vibrant the color was, or how full of expression they were.

I swallowed hard and gave her what I hoped was my most charming, adorable, heartbreaking—and every other convincing adjective I could think of—smile. “I’ll owe you.”

She raked her eyes over me, checking me out without a shred of shame, kicking my hormones up to the point where I thought if she didn’t kiss me right now, I’d start stalking her until she did. So, so, so, so hot.

“Fine,” she said suddenly. “Knock yourself out.”

I was sure I hadn’t heard correctly because it sounded like Jamie Baker, the girl known to all Rocklin High as the Ice Queen, just gave me permission to kiss her in order to win a bet. That was simply not possible.

I stared at her openmouthed like an utter moron while she sat there patiently waiting for me to invade her personal space. I started to lean in and then frowned as I remembered Mike’s condition. She had to kiss me.

“Actually,” I said, praying this bit of news wouldn’t change her mind. “You have to kiss me or it doesn’t count.”

She stared at me a minute, processing this request, and then raised a brow at me.

My composure finally cracked. “You don’t have to pretend to like it,” I said quickly. “Please?” I wanted to kick myself when it came out sounding like a plea.

She tortured me a minute longer with her unreadable expression and glanced behind me toward Mike. Who knew what she saw back there. I couldn’t look. I didn’t want to know what the guys were thinking at this point.

Just when I was sure she was going to finally tell me to get lost she leaned forward and met my lips.

I’m not sure what shocked me more; the fact that she actually went along with this crazy scheme, or the fact that she didn’t just kiss me, but attacked me as if she wanted to devour me completely. For that first split second her touch was light, but then she threw herself into the kiss so forcefully I nearly fell out of my chair.

I gasped in surprise, which only caused her to up the kiss to French status. That’s when my surprise dissolved and, I managed to start kissing back.

I’d never been kissed like this in all my life. It was charged so full of energy that I swear to you there were actual physical sparks. No, not sparks, freaking fireworks. There was a magnetism pulling us together so strongly that we lost control. I grabbed her face in both my hands and then raked my fingers through her hair exactly the way I’d fantasized about doing a million times.

The next thing I knew Jamie was in my lap wrapping her arms around my neck as if she planned on keeping me hostage for eternity. If that were the case, bring on the shackles babe, because no way was I going to be the one to end this epic kiss.

I felt like I was on fire—like warm energy was spilling out of Jamie, washing over me and causing all my hair to stand on end. I started shaking—just a slight tremor in my hands at first, but it quickly progressed to violent, uncontrollable shivers. The energy was filling my body so full I thought I’d literally burst apart at my seams.

Then, when I was ready to combust Jamie finally stilled. She pulled her face back and smiled at me with a cool expression, but I know she was affected as I was. I wasn’t the only one breathing hard and shaking.

“You can keep the gum,” she said, trying to mask her feelings with a smirk. She couldn’t quite manage it though. Her eyes were bright and full of disbelief. She was as surprised as I was.

She climbed off me and with a wink said, “Have fun at the dance.” And then she was gone. She walked out of the cafeteria as if that hadn’t just happened. As if she hadn’t just completely wrecked me.

I had no idea if what I felt meant we were soul mates or something crazy like that, but I knew two things for certain. One: Jamie Baker wasn’t the ice queen she pretended to be. And two: I wanted her more than anything I’d ever wanted in my entire life.

I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew deep down in my gut it would be worth it. “Game on, Ice Queen,” I muttered as I stumbled back over to Mike to rub my victory in his face. “You’re already mine. You just don’t know it yet.”

Character interviews with the cast of Cinder & Ella

 

Cinder & Ella Character Interviews (Ella Rodriguez, Brian “Cinder” Oliver, Ana and Juliette Coleman, Rob Loxley)

The characters of Cinder & Ella hijacked a lot of my blog tour, so I’m posting those interviews in the extras page of my website. :)

 

Interview # 1 (Brian & Ella introduce the book…sort of…)

This first one, Brian and Ella joined Lisa over at A Life Bound By Books via an internet chat to introduce the book for me.

EllaTheRealHero: Hey everyone! I’m Ella, average teenager and book blogger extraordinaire.

Cinder458: And I’m Brian, star of The Druid Prince, and all of all Ella’s fantasies.

EllaTheRealHero: Right. He wishes.

Cinder458: I don’t wish, I know. Anyway, I play Prince Cinder in the upcoming movie The Druid Prince. It’s a film adaptation of the first book in the best fantasy book series of all time, The Cinder Chronicles by LP Morgan.

EllaTheRealHero: Definitely the best book series ever.

Cinder458: And now it’s going to be the greatest movie of all time.

EllaTheRealHero: Let me guess: because you’re the star?

Cinder458: Well I am perfect for the role. Plus, I’m the book’s biggest fan. Who else could have played Cinder as well as me?

EllaTheRealHero: Fine, you’re perfect for the part, but I have to argue that you’re the book’s biggest fan. I believe, that title belongs to me.

Cinder458: Actually, it doesn’t. I love everything about the book. You hate the ending and would totally rewrite it if you could. That makes me the bigger fan.

EllaTheRealHero: That’s not true. I love the ending. I just think Cinder picked the wrong girl.

Cinder458: No he didn’t. You were just on the wrong “team” as you bloggers like to say. Hey, have you ever noticed that that happens to you a lot?

EllaTheRealHero: It does not.

Cinder458: Oh, please. Jacob? Puck? Gale? You even wanted Valerie to end up with Isaac in V is for Virgin. Nobody wanted Virgin Val to end up with the boring church boy over the rock star.

EllaTheRealHero: Well, Kyle was a jerk! Val deserved better. Plus, the guy who played Isaac in the movie was hotter than the actor who played Kyle.

Cinder458: And you say I’m shallow. Hey, wait a minute. I played Kyle in the V is for Virgin movie!

EllaTheRealHero: I know.

Cinder458: What??? You seriously thought that guy was hotter than me???

EllaTheRealHero: LOL!!! You are so easy!!!

Cinder458: You’re such a brat!

EllaTheRealHero: That’s why you love me.

Cinder458: *sigh* That is true. You’re the only woman in the world who gives me crap. And you’re right. I love you for it. Anyway, enough of that. We’re supposed to be introducing our book and we’re failing miserably.

EllaTheRealHero: Oh yeah. Hey, maybe we should just let Lisa introduce it. She’s an amazing blogger. She’s the one who inspired me to start blogging, you know. I’m sure she’ll do the book way more justice than either of us could.

Cinder458: I don’t know about that. Lisa’s awesome, but you’re a pretty great blogger too.

EllaTheRealHero: You’re biased.

Cinder458: Maybe a little. Hey, you want to go get some dinner and have a Legend of the Seeker marathon?

EllaTheRealHero: Definitely.

…

…

LISA: Uh… guys?

(They’re Gone.)

Interview #2 Ana, Juliette, and Rob discuss their roles in the fairy tale.

For this stop on the tour, my supporting characters made an appearance and discussed their own roles in this fabulous Cinderella story.

Vivian: Hey guys! I’m Vivian Euling, Ella’s best friend. And this is Rob Loxely, Ella’s…

Rob: Friend.

Vivian: Is that what you’re calling it?

Juliette: *snickers* Rob’s a complicated guy, but we love him anyway. Hey everybody! I’m Juliette Coleman. I’m Ella’s stepsister. Well, one of them.

Vivian: The good one.

Juliette: The awesome one. And just FYI, I totally resent the term “ugly” that is so often associated with my role in this tale. I’m not ugly! And you know, most of the stepsisters in all these Cinderella retellings aren’t bad looking either. Megan Dodds, who played the stepsister in Ever After is gorgeous. Why does everyone always have to call us the ugly stepsisters? It’s not cool.

Rob: I think it’s meant to be more, metaphorical—ugly on the inside.

Juliette: *scoffs*

Vivian: Oh stop. You know he doesn’t mean you, Juliette. He was talking in general—in terms of most Cinderella retellings.

Rob: Actually, I was talking about Ana.

Vivian: *snorts*

Juliette: *sigh* Yeah, she really doesn’t help the pro-stepsister cause much, does she? She’s not all bad though, you guys, seriously. She’s just…going through a rough time.

Vivian: *snorts again*

Rob: *raises eyebrow*

Juliette: *sighs again* Fine, lets not talk about Anastasia. We’re supposed to be talking about the book anyway.

Vivian: Yay! I love this book! And in it, I have the awesome privilege of playing the Fairy Godmother. I get to dress Ella all up and take her to the ball where she meets her prince. So fun!

Juliette: Um, actually, Brian and Ella’s meeting was my doing. You gave her the dress, but I got her into the ball, so I say we’re both her fairy godmothers.

Vivian: You just don’t want to be the ugly stepsister.

Juliette: I’m not!!! Ana is the ugly stepsister!!!

Vivian: And she plays the role to perfection.

Juliette: Right, so since I’m obviously not the ugly stepsister, and I’m the one who finally introduces Ella and Brian, I think we should get to both be fairy godmothers. It worked for Sleeping Beauty. She had three.

Vivian: All right, fine, you can be a fairy godmother too. *grins at Rob* I guess that makes you our third.

Rob: *raises another eyebrow*

Vivian: Hey, wait, what is Rob in the story anyway?

Rob: Ella’s friend.

Vivian: Yeah, but I mean, like, in the Cinderella scheme of things. You don’t really have a label.

Juliette: Sure he does. He’s Jacque.

Vivian & Rob: Who?

Juliette: You know, the mouse who’s Cinderella’s friend in the Disney version? Jacque? And Gus?

Vivian: *laughs* You think he’s the mice?

Juliette: Yeah, and the dog, and the pumpkin.

Rob: I’m the pumpkin?

Juliette: Well you drove us to the ball didn’t you? It was your car that was her carriage, so yes, you are the coachman who provided the coach. And you’re the mouse. You’re Cinderella’s… friend—

Vivian: *snort*

Juliette: —who was there for her when no one else was. You’re the one who always liked her from the beginning, and the friend who kept her from going insane while she was being tortured by her stepfamily. If you need an example in people terms, you’re that weird best friend who dressed up as Zorro in the Hillary Duff movie, and you’re that gay best friend from the yoga place in Robin Palmer’s book Cindy Ella.

Rob: Excuse me?

Vivian: *laughs*

Juliette: Metaphorically speaking, Rob.

Vivian: Actually, Juliette’s right. I mean you kind of are the mice. You’re the BGF—Best Guy Friend. Most Cinderella’s have one. Ella Enchanted had that lawyer elf guy, and Shrek had Donkey.

Rob: First I was the mice, and now I’m Donkey?

Juliette: I guess it’s a good thing this is a contemporary retelling, huh?

Rob: No, you what I am? I’ll tell you what I am. I’m the sucker. I’m the chump who gets the shaft when the dumb prince shows up and steals my girl from me. And because I care about Ella and want her to be happy, I have to suck it up and be a good sport about it or I look like a total jerk. And in the end, what do I get? I get stuck with the two psycho chicks who compare me to rodents. You know what? Come to think of it, I don’t even really like this book all that much. I want to be in a different book!

Juliette & Vivian: *share a shocked glance*

Juliette: *mutters to Vivian* I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard him speak.

Vivian: *nods and mutters back* Is it just me or is he really sexy when he’s pouting?

Juliette: Definitely. Then again, when is Rob not sexy?

Rob: *gapes at Vivian and Juliette in complete bewilderment*

Juliette: *pats Rob’s knee and gives him a sympathetic smile* Don’t you worry your pretty little head Rob Loxley. You are going to be adored by everyone who reads this book, and I’m sure there is girl out there somewhere just waiting—dying—for you to come and be her hero.

Vivian: Yeah. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had your own fairy tale retelling just waiting to be written.

Rob: *scowls at both Vivian and Juliette, but calms down* Whatever. Just as long as you two aren’t my fairy godmothers.

Vivian: *rolls eyes* Juliette and I are awesome fairy godmothers. Cinder and Ella are epic. People will be retelling their love story for generations to come.

Juliette: Yup. All thanks to us. We rock.

Vivian: And so does the book. You should all go read it. Right now. Thanks for having us on the blog today!

Juliette: Yeah, this was so fun!

Rob: A real blast.

Vivian: Cheer up Donkey. You know you had fun.

Rob: *sigh* Just read the book, people.

Interview #3

Another hijacked tour stop… :D This one they visited Ambur at Burning Impossibly Bright.

EllaTheRealHero: Hi everyone! I’m Ella from the entertainment review blog Ellamara’s Words of wisdom, and I’m here with Hollywood Superstar Brian Oliver to introduce our new book Cinder & Ella. I want to start by saying thank you to Ambur for letting us stop by today. It was really sweet of her to let us come.

Cinder458: I don’t know that she let us stop by. I think we sort of hijacked Kelly’s blog post.

EllaTheRealHero: No, Kelly asked us to come and help out. You’d know that if you’d read the blog tour schedule.

Cinder458: Ella, I told you I have an assistant for that kind of stuff. You know, Scotty—quiet, anal-retentive, Boy Scout looking guy, likes to follow me around all the time…?

ScottMichaels: Actually, you pay me to follow you around.

Cinder457: Hey, hey, Scotty’s here!

EllaTheRealHero: Yeah, he is, so you should watch yourself and be a little nicer to him.

Cinder458: What do you mean? I’m always nice to Scott. I love Scotty. I wouldn’t be able to function without him.

ScottMichaels: That’s very true. Brian is the most disorganized person I’ve ever met.

EllaTheRealHero: You called him anal-retentive.

Cinder458: Well, yeah, but that’s not mean, it’s just what he is. Scott knows I love him. Don’tcha Scotty?

ScottMichaels: I know. Don’t worry, Ella. He’s actually a pretty good boss.

EllaTheRealHero: Yeah, I’m sure he is. He likes to pretend he’s a big tough guy, but he’s actually very thoughtful and sweet.

Cinder458: Plus I don’t make him wear a tie to work unless I have to wear one.

EllaTheRealHero: Now that is love. They should give you a medal or something. World’s Best Boss.

Cinder458: They totally should. And they should give you one while they’re at it. World’s Snarkiest Girlfriend. Why do you always have to bust on me, woman?

EllaTheRealHero: Somebody has to. Why not me?

Cinder458: Because you’re my girlfriend. You’re supposed to be sweet and supportive and stroke my ego when I need it.

EllaTheRealHero: Ha! Okay. If there ever comes a day when your ego needs stroking, I promise I will do that for you.

Cinder458: And what if other things besides my ego ever need stroking?

EllaTheRealHero: BIRAN OLIVER! Stop! Right now! Do not go there! We are supposed to be keeping this press tour teen-friendly and you know it. There’s no way Scott forgot to give you that memo from Kelly about keeping things appropriate.

Cinder458: What memo? I didn’t get any memo about that.

ScottMichaels: I emailed it to you, taped a copy of it to your fridge with certain parts highlighted, and I read it out loud to you twice.

Cinder458: What?

ScottMichaels: Once when Kelly sent it to us, and once half an hour ago before we signed on today.

Cinder458: You both are no fun. Fine. What are we allowed to talk about then?

EllaTheRealHero: Cinder & Ella. You remember that book we’re supposed to be promoting right now? Kelly Oram wrote it?

Cinder458: Oh, hey, yeah, I know her. She’s pretty awesome.

EllaTheRealHero: Of course you know her, she—you know what? Never mind. Cinder & Ella is a great book, you guys. You should really read it.

Cinder458: Definitely read it. It’s epic. You won’t be disappointed. (I’m in it.)

 

Interview #4 – Brian Gets Real

The lovely Brita over at Bonjour Y’all somehow miraculously got Brian to sit down for a full interview and even answer some in-depth questions.

Brian, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I must admit, I’m fangirling just a little! I’ve been a big fan ever since you played Kyle Hamilton in V is for Virgin. Tell me, did you ever get the chance to meet the real Kyle or Valerie?

Aw, well shucks, Brita. Thank you. I’m always happy to meet my fans. I’m glad you liked V is for Virgin. I have to admit, it was a little difficult for me to play the role of Kyle Hamilton. I know the guy personally, and I can’t stand him. He’s so full of himself and he will do anything to get media attention. It’s guys like him that give celebrities a bad rep. But, I have to admit their story was a good one. I enjoyed being part of the movie. Valerie is such a strong admirable woman. I haven’t met her, but I’d like to. Even if only to ask her what she sees in him.

I don’t know who has the better real-world romance, Kyle and Valerie, or you and Ella. I met my husband online, so I love hearing about other successful online couples. At what point did you realize you were in love with Ella, without having ever met her in person?

Ella and I so trump Kyle and Val. (No offense to Val.) But seriously, Ella and me? EPIC. How awesome that you met your husband online. Online relationships get a bad reputation, but it’s nice to be able to be yourself. I don’t think I could have had a real meaningful relationship without the anonymity because of my fame. It’s good to know that Ella loves me for me, you know? And I don’t doubt that she does. Just like I love her. I truly did fall in love with a girl I’d never met. I always knew I’d liked her, from the very first time she responded to my letter to her. And I definitely had a blogger-crush on her. But I didn’t know how much she meant to me until she disappeared. She left this huge, gaping hole in my life. Losing her was like losing my heart, and that’s when I realized that I’d loved her—really, truly loved her. When she came back into my life it was no small miracle and I knew I wasn’t going to let her get away from me no matter what.

Now that you and Ella are together, what has been the biggest adjustment in your life?

Remembering to leave the toilet seat down. That drives Ella crazy. Sometimes I leave it up just to annoy her. She gives me this look that’s just—anyway she’s fun. Don’t tell her I do that on purpose. Seriously though, I think the hardest part is all the worrying. My relationship with Ella is solid, but our lives are crazy, and with her special circumstances, it’s impossible not to constantly worry about her. People still say hurtful stuff about her sometimes—there will always be idiots in the world—and it makes me so mad. She’s much better at ignoring all that stuff than I am. But I can’t help it. I don’t want to see her hurt. Ever. I’m always trying to protect her even though I know she’s strong and can take care of herself. I think I’ve given myself an ulcer since getting together with her. I imagine I’m going to be one of those dads who meets my daughter’s boyfriends with a shotgun in my hands someday.

Moving away from your personal life, can you tell me more about your next project?

Well I just wrapped on this incredible project with my all-time favorite director Zachary Goldberg, playing the part of Sir Percy in The Scarlet Pimpernel. That was an experience I’ll remember forever. The movie is going to be amazing! Then, I begin filming next month for A Shattered Kingdom—the second Cinder Chronicles movie. It’ll be good to meet up with my old pal Prince Cinder again, and I know Ella is DYING because she’ll get to visit the set. She hasn’t stopped talking about it for weeks.

What is your dream film adaptation of a book—not counting your current work, of course!—and what would be your dream role in that movie?

Well, obviously, it doesn’t get any better than playing Cinder. He is my favorite character of all-time. And then to be able to play Sir Percy was also like a dream come true, so I really have no complaints. But, if I could choose another one I’d definitely love to play The Count of Monte Cristo. That’s an excellent story and it would be such a great role to play. He’s such a complicated character. There’re so many sides to him. Plus he’s just plain cool. That would be fun.

Thank you again for you time. Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers?

You’re welcome. Thanks for letting me stop by. I’m sorry Ella couldn’t join us, she had a thing with her dad today that she couldn’t miss, but she sends her love. That and buy the book. I’ve met the author. Kelly’s a pretty cool chick and she worked really hard to give me an awesome story.

 

Interview #5 

Brian and Ella sit down with Mar & Mel at Words Feather blog.

Mar & Mel: We’re so excited to have the stars of Cinder & Ella here with us today! Thank you guys for stopping by to chat with us.

Brian: No, thank you for having us. We’ve been having a lot of fun with this blog tour thingie.

Ella: Blog tour thingie? Is that a technical term?

Brian: It is now. I just coined it. I can do that, you know. I’m a trendsetter.

Mel & Mar: Yes you are! Brian, we’re really big fans of both you and the books in The Cinder Chronicles series. We were very excited when you were cast to play Cinder for the movie. What was it like to play your favorite character of all time?

Brian: It was a dream come true. I’ve never had more fun on a project, or worked so hard to really bring a character to life.

Mar & Mel: Being such a big fan yourself, were you a headache (pain in the ass) to the writers/director/other people involved in making the film?

Brian: Hell yes I was. I’m not even ashamed to admit it. But I wasn’t difficult like the way Kaylee was. I’m not a diva or anything. I just had a vision for this film and I couldn’t stand to see anyone screwing it up. I swear my dad was ready to kill me so many times because I kept trying to take over his job. But it was The Druid Prince! I had to.

Mar & Mel: What’s the best part about Ella being half Latin?

Brian: Obviously there’s her looks. The combination of her skin tone and her eyes makes her so gorgeous she’s literally painful to look at. But between you and me, I love it when she talks dirty to me in Spanish. Okay, knowing Ella she’s more likely insulting me than talking dirty to me, but the way the words roll off her tongue…it’s so hot. I can’t ever learn the language, because knowing what she’s saying might take away some of the magic.

Mar & Mel: Aw, that’s so romantic! You guys make such a great couple. Tell us more about how you met, and what was the best part about having done it online?

Brian: I wouldn’t give back the way I met Ella for anything. As you said, we met online. I came across a blog post about the books that really resonated with me and felt compelled to write the blogger a fan letter.

Ella: *snorts* A fan letter? Is that what you call it?

Brian: *grins at Ella* You liked it enough to respond with a love letter. The rest is history.

Ella: Don’t mind him, he’s delusional. He wrote a “letter to the editor” to tell me how crazy I was and I wrote him back and told him where he could stick his letter to the editor.

Brian: *laughs* And like I said, the rest is history. The best part about our relationship was that it was anonymous. I was able to just be myself with her for the first time in my life and not worry if she only liked me because I was rich, famous, and gorgeous. Plus, she never held back her real opinions with me. No one else in the world will ever defend themselves against me. Why do you think I fell in love with her after I red her reply to my letter?

Ella: It’s true. The boy lives for a good argument. Forget acting, he should have been a politician. I loved the honesty of our relationship too, but I didn’t have his fame problem, and I always wished we could have known each other in person. Though, if we had met in person, I probably would have never gotten to know the real him. He hides himself to most people. Which is a shame, because who he is on the inside is even better than who he is on the outside.

Brian: Aw, thanks babe. But I gotta say, I appreciate what’s on your outside just as much as the inner you. *grins wickedly* Especially certain parts of the outer you.

Ella: Brian!

Brian: I’m talking about your eyes, Ella. Your eyes are beautiful. Geez, woman, and you say I have a dirty mind…

Mar & Mel: Wow, okay, um, so Ella, we have lots of Chilean readers, which is where your mom born, would you like to visit the country? Or any other part of Latin America?

Ella: Of course! I want to see all of the world, but especially Chile. My mom’s family is from Concepcion, Chile. My grandparents came to the States when my mom was twelve, so she remembered a lot from her home country. She told me all about it and showed me tons of pictures, so it sort of feels like this magical place from a fairy tale as well as an old friend. I definitely have to visit there someday.

Mar & Mel: As a fellow blogger, any advice you could give us?

Ella: Get a famous movie star to pimp your blog. Kidding. Though, that does help. ;) Seriously though, the best thing is to be yourself in your posts. Let your personality shine through. If the readers feel like they know you personally, that’s what’s going to set you apart from all the other blogs they read.

Mar & Mel: Thanks. And can we just say that you are amazing at that? You are so funny on your blog! Especially now that you’ve gone public with your relationship. You and Brian are hilarious together. How does it feel dating this guy? Being famous and all. It must be hard but incredibly awesome at the same time. ;)

Ella: I’m not sure I can put it into words. The fame is really, really strange and a huge hassle, but I think knowing that he’s the guy I chatted online with for so many years overwhelms me more than the movie star thing. I mean Cinder was just Cinder for so long. Sometimes I’ll look at Brian and the truth that he’s the guy who’s always been my best friend will hit me all over again.

Mel & Mar: And would you like to do something/reach out/help other people that go through by all you went through?

Ella: I’ve actually already sort of started doing this. I’ve made a couple of motivational public speaking appearances, talking about my experiences, and I’ve got more scheduled for the future. It started when The Kenneth Long Show invited Brian and I to do a follow up interview after The Druid Prince Premiere. After telling my story on TV I got so many calls from all kinds of different organizations from people who wanted me to come and speak. What surprised me is how much I enjoy it. I thought I would be nervous to be in front of an audience, but Brian convinced me it wasn’t much different than posting my thoughts on my blog. He was right.

Brian: Of course I was. She rocked it. She had the whole audience bawling like babies. She’s truly an amazing woman.

Ella: *blushes* I just like that, if sharing my story helps others learn to cope with the troubles in their life, then at least something good came from all my tragedy. Well, something other than Brian, of course.

Mel & Mar: That’s great! I’m sure you’ll be able to help so many people. We were certainly inspired by your story. Thank you both so much for stopping by today. It’s been so fun. We wish you all the best with the new book and the new relationship!

Interview #6 – One on one with Ella

While Brian was off doing busy important superstar stuff, Ella sat down with Coffee, Books, & My Kindle!

Hi Ellamara! Welcome to Coffee, Books & My Kindle, it’s an honor having you today.

Thank you for having me. I’m glad to be here.

Since your love story with the handsome Brian Oliver hit the news, you have been in the spotlight a lot… How are you feeling about that? Are you more comfortable with everything going around?

The fame has been a big adjustment, but Brian’s really gotten me through it. It’s not my favorite thing but it’s worth our relationship. I don’t know that I’m more comfortable with the horrible things being said about me as much as I’ve just gotten better at ignoring it all. Plus, I’ve been able to use the experience to start helping others by speaking to groups about my experiences, so it’s worth it.

I know your tragic accident was very hard for you. You lost your mother, spent eight months in a hospital, had thirty-seven surgeries in a year, and your recovery wasn’t easy, but now you’re in a better place, right? What would you say to other people, teenagers, or young kids who are living a similar case?

I am definitely in a much better place than I was. I think the most important thing I could tell anyone, no matter what their specific struggles are, is to be brave and let people help you. It’s hard to admit sometimes where we’re having trouble, and we don’t want to be judged for our weaknesses. But there are things we can’t recover from alone, and we shouldn’t have to. My therapist said it a million times: you need a support system. Find the people who love you, and let them help you. Ask for help, and let them be there for you. It’s scary, but it will help you heal.

What’s going on with your stepfamily?

Same old, same old, I guess. Things get a little better with them every day. Nobody can expect miracles over night, but now that we’re all making sincere efforts, I’m sure we’ll feel like family soon enough.

I was researching about you and obviously found your blog, pretty interesting by the way and there was a post about your recently recovering path and the conversation with your dad, so my question is how did you feel when you had the counseling session with your dad, and how both of you are dealing with your relationship?

I have mixed emotions about my father. When he finally broke down and told me his story, I was heartbroken for both myself and him. I’m angry, but I’m also hopeful. And now that I understand him better, I’m working on letting go of my resentment. We’re slowly building a relationship. It’s awkward sometimes, but I can see that he loves me, and even though we still have our issues, I do love him too, and I’m grateful to have him back in my life.

Tell us a little about your beginnings on the blogosphere? What motivated you start a blog?

I wanted free books! LOL. I’m a big reader. I love it. I used to follow a lot of blogs and every time someone would post about having a shiny new arc of a book I still had to wait months to read, I was green with envy. I also couldn’t afford to pay for my reading habit. So I started a blog in hopes that I could build up a following large enough that publishers would send me books. I had no idea that I’d love it so much, but after the first month or so I was hooked on blogging!

Did you remember your first post?

Yeah, I do, even though it wasn’t all that exciting. I started with a book review about The Cinder Chronicles. It wasn’t the blog post that Brian found and emailed me about. That came much later. When I first started I only posted basic book reviews. It took me a while to learn how to post on other topics. So my first few posts weren’t as creative as the ones I do now. I hadn’t found my groove yet.

Are you ready for a few flash Q&A? Take a breath and go

Favorite contemporary author? Simone Elkeles. Her Rules of Attraction series is amazing!

Your top 5 all time favorite books includes…? The Cinder Chronicles books 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5! ;)

Best moment as blogger?

The moment Brian Oliver tweeted about my review of his movie The Long Road Home. At the time I still didn’t know who he was, so I thought it was random, and that the worlds biggest celebrity had found my review and liked it. That, or getting to interview L.P. Morgan and Jason Cohen about The Druid Prince at FantasyCon. That video interview is still my most popular post on my blog!

Curling with a good book or movie night?

Tough call. Depends on the book and the move. I enjoy both activities equally. If Brian’s reading to me I used to always pick that over anything, but now that we’ve met in person, snuggling up with him on the couch in front of a movie is pretty fantastic too.

Cinder or Brian?

Now, see, that’s the brilliance of those two. They are one in the same so I don’t have to choose. I get to have my cake and eat it too!

What was the third object you left at the café?

Hmm, well, I left my book, my gloves, and my walking staff. Though, I did manage to get home with my staff that night. If you want to get metaphorical, I also left my old life in that café that night, because once I left, nothing was ever the same.

Done!

Oh this was so fun but time is over. Do you want to say goodbye to your fans and readers?

Thanks for having me. I’m glad I could stop by and share a little bit of myself with you. And I just want to say thank you to all of my fans and readers. They’ve been a huge support to me, and they definitely make life interesting! Never stop reading!

All the best with your plans and say hello to Brian please!

I will, thanks!

 

Interview #7 – Brian and Ella Discuss Halloween

Brian and Ella wrapped up the Cinder & Ella blog tour on Halloween with one last Internet chat over at Paper Cuts blog. They talked costumes, candy, and scary movies!

EllaTheRealHero: Hey everyone, Cinder and Ella here! We want to thank Rachel for inviting us to stop by Paper Cuts today.

Cinder458: Yeah, we’re happy to be here. My actual name’s Brian, though, not Cinder. You can call me Brian. Ella forgets that sometimes.

EllaTheRealHero: I don’t forget. It’s just that Cinder & Ella are so cute together. I like it.

Cinder458: It’s a little cheesy. And it makes me seem like one of those actors who doesn’t know the difference between myself and the characters I play.

EllaTheRealHero: Sorry. You’ll always be Cinder to me. Cinder & Ella. It’s cute. Not cheesy. And it’s a fun play on words that people can remember, so it’s probably going to stick. You have a nickname. Embrace it, my friend.

Cinder458: Whatever. We’re getting off topic again.

EllaTheRealHero: Yeah, we’ve done that a lot this tour. We’re kind of terrible at the blog touring stuff, aren’t we?

Cinder458: Speak for yourself. I’m awesome at it.

EllaTheRealHero: You’re the one who got us off topic.

Cinder458: Well you’re the one who refuses to use my name.

EllaTheRealHero: You’re doing it again. This is our last stop. We have to get at least one right. Come on, focus, we’re supposed to be talking about Halloween.

Cinder458: Right, so, Rachel, Halloween. Hit me.

RachelPaperCuts:  Okay, let’s start with costumes. If you guys dressed up together, like, as a couple, what would you want to go as?

EllaTheRealHero: Cinder and Ella from The Druid Prince. Obviously.

Cinder458: Boring.

EllaTheRealHero: What?

Cinder458: Been there and done that. I had to wear that dumb costume for months while filming. I don’t want to go as Cinder and Ella. Let’s be something different for a change. That’s what Halloween’s really about, anyway. Disguising yourself. Being someone you don’t normally get to be. We’re always Cinder and Ella. You won’t even call me by my real name!

EllaTheRealHero: Because Cinder’s cuter.

Cinder458: Whatever. I’m not being Cinder and Ella for Halloween.

EllaTheRealHero: All right, how about Cinderella and Prince Charming? That would be so cute too.

Cinder458: And cliché, woman. Come on. You’re more creative than this.

EllaTheRealHero: Fine. What do you think we should go as?

Cinder458: I’m thinking a doctor and his sexy nurse. How awesome would that be?

EllaTheRealHero: Are you kidding me?

Cinder458: What? I think it would be awesome to be a doctor!

EllaTheRealHero: And you said I was being unimaginative? It doesn’t get more cliché than Doctor and Sexy Nurse.

Cinder458: But it doesn’t get any hotter, either. Come on Ella, where’s your sense of adventure? Be my sexy nurse. Oh, or I know, I could go as a butler and you could be the maid.

EllaTheRealHero: Let me guess, you mean a sexy French maid with that little black dress, white apron, and fishnet tights?

Cinder458: Is there any other kind?

EllaTheRealHero: I am not going as a French maid. Or a sexy nurse.

Cinder458: A Pimp and his ho could be fun too.

EllaTheRealHero: In your dreams!

Cinder458: Underwear models?

EllaTheRealHero: Okay, moving on. Next topic, Rachel?

RachelPaperCuts: Um… how about candy? What kind is your favorite?

Cinder458: All the chocolate of course.

EllaTheRealHero: Agreed.

RachelPaperCuts: That’s it?

EllaTheRealHero: What’s better than chocolate?

RachelPaperCuts: Wow, okay, I guess I just expected more of an argument.

Cinder458: Really? Home come?

RachelPaperCuts: Uh… No reason. Lets move on. How about scary movies? Do you like them? What are your favorites?

EllaTheRealHero: They aren’t a good romance or an epic fantasy, but they’re all right, I guess.

Cinder458: They’d be a lot better if Ella would respond to them appropriately.

RachelPaperCuts: What do you mean?

Cinder458: Well you know. Because at a scary movie, your girl freaks out and clings to you through the whole movie. She makes you hold her and buries her face in your chest at the really scary parts. Jumping and squeaking and stuff. It’s great!

RachelPaperCuts: And Ella doesn’t do that?

EllaTheRealHero: If I ever acted like that I’d have to slap myself in the face.

Cinder458: Ella is that girl in the theater—you know the one I mean, there’s always at least one—who isn’t clinging to her boyfriend. She’s sitting upright in her chair, laughing at inappropriate times, groaning loudly, and yelling at the “idiot girl” on the screen for opening the door or running up the stairs. She’s obnoxious.

EllaTheRealHero: I am not that bad.

Cinder458: She literally threw her popcorn at the screen once and it got all over the guy in front of us. The management asked us to leave.

EllaTheRealHero: Oh, come on, that was the worst movie ever. Us getting kicked out was the most entertainment anyone in that theater got that night. It depends on the movie. The Ring, for instance, really creeped me out. I had nightmares from that one.

Cinder458: Really? I just figured out what we’re going to do tonight.

EllaTheRealHero: I’m not watching that movie again.

Cinder458: Yes you are.

EllaTheRealHero: No way. That girl is creepy. I told you: nightmares. I’m not watching it. Sorry.

Cinder458: You’ll be fine. You’ll have me. I’ll fend off any psycho chicks who crawl out of the TV. I’m Prince Cinder, remember? I’m excellent with a sword.

EllaTheRealHero: No.

Cinder458: Come on, it’s Halloween. Give me this one chance to watch a scary movie with my girl and have her actually act like a girl. I’ll keep you safe, Ella. Promise. And I’ll make sure you don’t have any nightmares.

EllaTheRealHero: Oh yeah, and how are you gonna do that, genius?

Cinder458: Easy. After the movie’s over, I’ll distract you and give you something a lot sexier to dream about all night.

EllaTheRealHero: Um…

RachelPaperCuts: Oh my. That’s… Is it hot in here?

EllaTheRealHero: Very.

Cinder458: So, we done here? Can we go now? It’s late and the woman and I have things to do.

RachelPaperCuts: Well, um, I mean we still had a few questions—

EllaTheRealHero: I think we’d better end it. We’ve officially distracted him to the point of no return. Things will only go down hill from here and I’m assuming you’d like to keep this appropriate for teens…

RachelPaperCuts: Uh, yeah. That would probably be wise. Okay, well, um, thanks for stopping by then.

EllaTheRealHero: You’re welcome. Thanks for having us.

Cinder458: Yeah, thanks. This has been an enlightening tour stop. Later everyone.  Read the book and all that jazz. Peace out!

 

Bonus scene: Chameleon chapter 1 from Russ’s POV

In honor of the release of Scion, which is told entirely in Russ’s point of view, please enjoy this Russ POV bonus scene from the book that started it all, Chameleon. It’s the first scene of the book, so it’s spoiler-free no matter where you are in the series. Happy reading!

Chameleon Chapter One (From RUSS POV)

It was three in the morning and I’d never been more awake. After months of planning, the night was finally upon me. Slipping through the unlocked front door, I smiled. I’d really outdone myself this year. And, for once, I was sure Dani was going to be happy with her birthday surprise. Of course, that didn’t mean she’d still like me in the morning.

By the angels, I hoped she still liked me in the morning.

The place was dark, but it wasn’t hard to find Dani’s room. Aside from the fact that I knew every square inch of the Webber’s house by heart, all I had to do was follow the obnoxious sounds of the saw mill coming from the back of the house. Dani snored like a freaking freight train. When we were younger, we used to have sleepovers and I’d always have to spell her quiet so I could get some sleep.

I came to stand at the head of her bed and watched her for a moment. She could hardly be described as peaceful with all that racquet she was making, but I wanted to remember every single thing about this night. Just in case…

“Dani!”

She rolled over and mumbled something incoherent. The girl liked her sleep, and she was usually an uber grouch if she didn’t get enough of it, but I wasn’t about to let that stop me. “Psst! Dani, wake up!”

“Russ,” she groaned. “Go home right now.”

Chuckling, I shoved into her bed with her. When she refused to move an inch, I poked her. “Scooch over.”

“No. And be quiet on your way out. If my parents find you here—”

“We won’t get busted.” Especially not when I spelled the room soundproof. “Sit up. I have something for you.”

She’d wake up for presents. Even at three in the morning. Dani loves presents. To her credit, she did try to resist the call of gifts once she read the numbers on her alarm clock, but she still pulled herself into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

I clicked on her bedside lamp and moved to sit right in front of her, matching her Indian-style position like we were about to have some kind of special powwow. A birthday powwow. As I settled in, Dani let her eyes rake over me. She’d been doing that a lot lately. It was one of the reasons I’d decided that tonight would be more than just her annual Russ Devereaux Birthday Surprise. “Mesmerized by my stunning good looks?” I teased.

Dani blinked back into focus. “What?”

“You were staring at me.” And it was driving me crazy.

I may be the king of restraint due to necessity, but I was bound to crack if she was going to start undressing me with her eyes every time we were together. Wanting someone as badly as I wanted Dani was hard enough, but seeing my desire returned in her eyes was…

I swallowed. I had to do something. I couldn’t keep living like this, in this torturous limbo. I’d been waiting for Fate to throw me a bone somehow, but she was taking too long and I’d run out of patience. Tonight, one way on another, things were going to change between Dani and me. Please, Mother Creator, let this be the right choice.

“That was just me sleeping with my eyes open,” she lied. “It’s three in the morning. What are you doing here?”

It was so Dani to cover up her embarrassment by pretending she was annoyed with me. Too bad she never fooled me. She was nervous right now. Want to know a secret? I was trying to make her nervous on purpose. My whole intent tonight was to make her see me in a new way. What better way to do that than to crawl into bed with her in the middle of the night?

We hadn’t been in bed together since we were kids. Back when the fact that we were the opposite sex didn’t matter. It definitely mattered now. She looked so incredibly sexy at the moment that I could hardly think of anything other than the fact that I wanted to obliterate the word “friendship” from all known languages.

“What happened to the Disney Princess nightgown you wore the last time we were in bed together? That was hot.”

But not nearly as hot as the tank top and panties she was wearing right now. Damn. I hadn’t expected her to sleep so risqué. I’d genuinely been prepared for Captain America pajamas or something, considering her infatuation with Chris Evans. But this…she looked… Double damn. Even if this plan totally backfired on me tonight, right now it felt like the best idea I’d ever had.

As I took a mental picture of her, Dani finally realized she wasn’t wearing a bra and freaked out, pulling her covers up over her chest while glaring at me. If she hadn’t been awake before, she definitely was now. “You’d better have a damn good reason for being here or you’re going to be very sorry.”

She was pissed but it was worth it. I gave her a pout. “Since when do I need a reason?”

She opened her mouth to unleash a verbal tirade but I lifted a hand to stop her. I didn’t need to hear her rant. No lecture in the world was going to make me feel bad for sneaking in here and catching a semi-naughty glimpse of her. Am I shameless? Why yes. Yes I am. It’s one of my many talents.

Besides, it was almost time. “Patience grasshopper.”

Watching the clock, we both waited in silence for the neon light to flick to the right number, and then I grinned. “There. It’s three eleven in the morning on September twenty-third. You are officially sixteen.”

I reached for the ginormous box that I spent an hour trying to wrap perfectly and said, “Happy Birthday, Dani.”

She was speechless. A rarity, I assure you. I laughed at her shock. “Surprised?”

“Actually, yes. Very.”

Not that she hadn’t figured out why I was here the moment I woke her up, but I’m pretty sure she expected something much more…public. My birthday surprises for Dani were something of a legend here in Carmine. This was by far the lowest key I’d ever gone. I had my own selfish reasons for keeping it private this year, but I still knew she’d love it. She hates her birthday surprises as much as she loves them.

She tore her eyes from the package I was holding and gave me a wry smile. “For future reference this surprise is a lot better than most of your previous ones. Definitely better than last year.”

Thinking back to the epic surprise of last year, I frowned. “You didn’t like the poem I wrote you?”

“The poem I could live with. Even though I don’t think anything that starts with, ‘Dani, Dani, she’s good for the heart. She likes crap like Shakespeare and hates when I fart,’ really counts as poetry. But the fact that you recited it during a mandatory pep rally thrown in my honor?”

The pep rally. Definitely one of my finer moments. “Yeah. That was a good one.”

“How did you get Principle Green to agree to it anyway?”

“I’m a very persuasive guy. Now if I could only persuade you to open this gift already.”

I dropped the package into Dani’s lap, laughing at the way she grunted when it knocked the wind out of her. The box was a lot heavier than she’d been expecting. Ten pounds to be exact.

She pulled the bow off and stuck it on my head. “Should I be scared?”

And now for the best part. I handed over an old picture she’d drawn way back in the fourth grade.

Dani’s parents are obsessed—like, borderline psychotic—about taking pictures and keeping stupid crap. They had an entire bedroom in this house that they used for scrapbooking and storing junk.

A few months ago I was in need of some blackmail material, so I asked Dani’s mom Rachel if I could look through the scrapbooks. Not only did I find a picture of a lobster-faced Dani wearing a sweater with a unicorn on it—definitely blackmail worthy—I also discovered the drawing I’d just handed her. It was a picture of the two of us swimming in a pool of red Jell-O, and it was titled, “My Birthday Wish.” The moment I saw it I knew exactly what I’d be doing for her birthday this year, and I asked my dad for a spell that would work.

“Where did you get this?” she gasped.

“I’ll never tell. But tonight, Miss Webber, you are getting your birthday wish.”

Her eyes popped wide open and her face lit up as bright as day. “No way!”

If I hadn’t spelled her room, she’d have wakened her parents with her squeal. She was so excited. This was going to be absolutely perfect. “Get dressed.”

I came in the front door, but I crawled out the window because that seemed a lot cooler and more rebellious. Dani—typical girl that she was—totally had a weak spot for the “bad boy” type. (Captain America, aside.) I had no problem playing the role for her. As I disappeared out the window, I called back in a whisper, “Don’t forget your swimsuit.”

…

“You are a freaking genius!” Dani squeaked when we broke into Brad Halloway’s back yard to borrow his pool.

I knew she’d like that. Brad is such a douche. He’s your typical entitled rich prick in a small town. Any chance Dani and I have to hate on the guy, we take full advantage of. Plus, his pool is heated and it was starting to get chilly at night. I didn’t want to freeze.

Dani skipped across the pool deck, proudly holding her giant bag of Jell-O. Her excitement promptly died as she realized it would take, like, a thousand of those bags to turn all this water to gelatin. “Okay, so maybe you’re only a genius in theory. You’d need like five hundred pounds of this stuff to make this pool solid.”

“Where’s the trust?” I asked as I caught a handful of the pinkish dust she was now dumping in the water. “This is industrial-strength Jell-O.”

“Even still. It’s barely going to be enough to turn the water red.”

She was right of course, but I still pretended to be hurt by her skepticism and pushed her toward the other end of the pool. “Just make sure you spread it out, Doubty McDoubterson.”

She started pouring the Jell-O all around the edge of the pool and called out to me in a whisper a few seconds later. “You see? It’s not even turning red. It’s barely pink.”

Showtime. “Ah, but you’re forgetting I still have this.”

I held up the handful of Jell-O power I was holding and whispered the quick transformation spell my dad taught me before blowing the granules into the water. As they floated down and dissolved, Dani cocked her head to the side and looked at me like I was mental. “That’s it?” She shook her head and chuckled to her self. “You are such a moron.”

I’d be offended if she wasn’t right about the situation. In fact, if Dani hadn’t thought there was something completely off about this, I’d have thought she was the moron. “I can’t believe you have that little faith in me. Go get the skimmer and start stirring.”

You see, the thing is, I have magic, but Dani doesn’t know it. She doesn’t even know that magic exists. Dani is human. And the number one rule in the Supernatural world—the thing they start drilling into our brains from the moment we’re old enough to understand—is that humans can’t know we exist. Their minds supposedly aren’t capable of handling the truth of it.

The rumored statistic is that only one in a thousand humans can really accept supernaturals when they learn of our existence. The other nine hundred and ninety-nine either go crazy and end up in mental institutions, or become hunters and dedicate their lives to killing supernaturals out of fear. Sadly, I’ve seen a few of the mental patients myself, and my dad has grappled with a hunter once or twice, so though I’m not sure how they came up with the official statistic, I’m sure there’s truth behind it.

But Dani’s different. She’s special. She’s the one. I know she is.

Dani’s shocked gasp pulled me out of my thoughts. She was stirring the water with the pool skimmer and thanks to my spell, she was mixing cherry flavored Jell-O instead of water. The proof was right in front of her, but she just kept staring down at the pool as if waiting for it to turn into water again. I couldn’t help feeling smug. “Told you so.”

Her head shook slowly back and forth. “I don’t get it. This shouldn’t be working.”

“Maybe the Jell-O knew my birthday present would be totally lame if it didn’t work.”

I could have turned the pool to Jell-O before I brought her here and told her I’d spent all night dumping a million pounds of gelatin into the water, but I chose to change it in front of her eyes because I wanted to test her. I figured if she accepted the impossible stunt easily enough, then she was definitely the one in a thousand that could handle the truth. And if she freaked out, well, then I’d have to subtly start doing magic in front of her a little more often to ease her into the truth.

But she wasn’t going to freak out. She was the one. She would accept it. She’d accept me. She had to.

I gave her a few minutes to mentally process everything and then stripped down to my swim shorts and stuck my feet in the pool. FYI? The concept of swimming in Jell-O is way better than the actual act. “This feels pretty nasty.”

Smiling, Dani joined me on the pool’s edge and nodded, wrinkling her nose as she lowered her feet into the goop. “Slimy.”

“And sticky.”

Dani looked down at the Jell-O and smirked “At least it’s warm.”

“Yeah.” I bit the inside of my cheeks to keep from laughing. “That’s why I picked this pool. It’s the only heated one in town.”

Dani grinned at me. “How very insightful of you. I thought you picked it because Brad is a prick.”

See? I told you she’d appreciate that. “Happy coincidence.” I shrugged. “And I swear I don’t know anything about his big pool party on Saturday.”

We finally cracked up, and as the laughter died down, Dani began swirling her legs around in the Jell-O. “It kind of tickles.”

“It’s gross. You sure you want to go all the way in?”

I have to admit I was really hoping she’d say no, even though I knew she wouldn’t.

The things I do for the girl sitting next to me…

I’d have to shower for a good hour to get the fruity smell off me, and it was going to be a nightmare for my skin. I’d be all dried out, and I was running low on my moisturizer. I buy a special kind on the supernatural black market. It’s incredible, but really hard to get.

“Of course!” she chirped, as I knew she would. Her next statement, though, caught me off guard and knocked the wind out of me. “It’s not every day your best friend magically fulfills one of your life-long wishes.”

It took me way too long to respond. “What if I could?” I asked.

“Could what?”

“Magically make all your wishes come true.”

I swallowed down sudden butterflies. Was now the time? She seemed to be fine with the pool of Jell-O in front of her. There was nothing scary about this moment. She was even a big fan of the Supernatural. Okay, maybe she was just a fan of the show Supernatural because Sam and Dean Winchester were “yummy.” Her word, not mine. But still. I’d heard her say having magic would be cool. How could she not accept the truth?

Before I could work up the nerve to tell her, she threw her head back and laughed. “Yeah, that’s all I’d need. I’m spoiled enough as it is. Besides, if wishes came true every day they wouldn’t be magical anymore. Nope, once in a lifetime’s good enough for me. Now come on, I’ll race you to the other end!”

And that was that. She took off into the nasty, gooey, slimy-yet-sticky Jell-O, and I had to join her or she’d call me a pansy for the rest of my life. Man, I really hoped sugar didn’t make your skin break out.

…

It was gross. So, so gross. But Dani was thrilled by the experience and that made it all worth it. Still, I nearly cried tears of relief when she called it quits and agreed to a dip in the spa. She even beat me to it.

My brain clouded over with a foggy haze when she leaned back in the steaming water, closed her eyes, and released a long blissful sigh. “We should make spa hopping a weekly occurrence.”

I was definitely game. Especially when I slipped into the water with her and she gave me that look again. Her eyes darted quickly over my chest. She licked her lips and swallowed as if her mouth was suddenly too dry. I met her gaze, wanting her to know I was feeling it too, but I might have been too direct because she looked away and tried to pretend the sexual tension hadn’t been there. What I didn’t get was, why was she being so shy? She had to know I was crazy about her.

“Seriously Russ, you’ve outdone yourself this year. Thank you. Best birthday present ever.”

Her eyes were closed again so she didn’t see me smile. She truly would have been content with a ten-pound bag of Jell-O and a night of trespassing. I loved that about her. But I wasn’t finished with the gift giving. I reached over the side of the hot tub to my pile of dry clothes and grabbed the smaller package I’d brought with me. “Really?” I teased as I held out the necklace box. “So then I didn’t need to get you this?”

Her eyes popped open and she stared in confusion at the present in my hands. “What’s this for?”

“You didn’t think I was only going to give you a bag of Jell-O for your birthday did you? I’m way smoother than that.”

Her face softened in a way I wasn’t used to. Serious was not a look I often saw on Dani Webber’s face. Seriously pissed off maybe, but not just serious. “You gave me a lot more than just a bag of Jell-O and you know it.”

My skin itched with awkwardness. Yeah, her surprise tonight was a lot more meaningful than a bag of Jell-O and a chance to vandalize Brad Halloway’s pool right before his big party. I’d essentially fulfilled one of her life-long dreams tonight. But that didn’t mean she needed to bring it up and get all mushy about it. I shrugged, refusing to acknowledge the magnitude of the gesture. “Yeah, well, now I’m giving you that so shut up and open it.”

“Yes, sir,” she teased with a mock salute.

I held my breath as she tore off the wrapping. I was usually good with the gift-giving, but this gift was different. I was either reaching a new level of amazing and romantic, or I was crossing a line and was going to seriously freak her out. Her reaction was anyone’s guess.

She flinched when she recognized the velvet box as a jewelry box but quickly laughed. “Russell Alexander Devereaux what did you do?”

She didn’t believe there was really jewelry in it. I couldn’t blame her. I’d never given her jewelry before. Actually, she probably expected something funny or random—like a lock of my hair or something.

Insecurity punched me in the gut. It was too much. She was going to freak. In a bad way. “Just open it,” I said after she caught me in the middle of my mental breakdown.

She took so long lifting the lid of the box I nearly snatched it from her hands and did it for her. The anticipation was killing me. Then she gasped.

What she saw was a beautiful, expensive antique necklace, but what she had was a very powerful amulet filled with generations of Devereaux magic. It was meant to lend strength and protection to its wearer. “Do you like it? It’s been handed down in my family for generations.”

She forced another nervous laugh. “Very funny.”

Yup. Definitely crossed a line. But I couldn’t take it back now. Had to press on. Swallowing back my nerves, I took a breath and explained its significance. “Dad gave it to my mom when they got married. After she took off and left it behind, he told me he’d never be able to give it to another woman so he gave it to me.”

All the blood drained from her face.

Shit.

“I can’t accept this.”

She tried to hand me the box and I pushed it back. “I told Dad I wanted to give it to you, and he agreed that I should.”

She shook her head. “But it was your mother’s. It’s an heirloom. This should stay in your family.”

Didn’t she understand at all? She was my family. She was my best friend. She was the love of my life. She was my everything. “You’ve been my best friend since we were riding tricycles and making mud pies. I want you to have it.”

After searching my eyes for a long moment, she looked back down at the necklace. Brushing a trembling hand over the amulet, she whispered, “I—I don’t know what to say. Thank you, Russ.”

Okay. I’d freaked her out, but maybe I’d also scored some more-than-friends points. One could only hope.

She was completely overwhelmed, but I was on a roll now and I couldn’t stop. I slid across the hot tub, moving to sit right next to her. It was now or never. There was so much I wanted to say to her. So much I felt, and so much I needed her to know before I missed my opportunity and some other guy moved in because she thought I saw her as just a best friend—or angels forbid—a sister.

I’d known Dani for thirteen years now. I’d been in love with her for about three minutes less than that. And we’d been best friends for about three minutes less than that. I saw her, I loved her, she hit me with a shovel, and we’ve been best friends ever since.

In all the thirteen years we’ve been inseparable, I’ve never once made a move on her. I’ve never given her any hint that I wanted more than her friendship. I assume she knows, but I refused to go there because I was hiding this huge secret.

My mom left my dad and me, abandoning us completely because she was human and my dad never told her the truth about us. But eventually she had to find out because her son was a warlock and wouldn’t be able to control his magic at first. When Dad finally explained, it was too late. He’d waited too long. He got too deep in the relationship—married her and had a supernatural child with her—before giving her the chance to accept us. She couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t do that to Dani.

Dani was different. Dani would handle it. Dani could do this. Everything was going to be okay.

I took a deep breath. “Dani, there’s something I have to talk to you about.”

Her head snapped up and a mixture of emotions crossed her face. Confusion. Fear. Hope. It was the hope that gave me courage.

My dad always said my mother was strong. He was convinced she would have handled the truth if he’d only trusted her and been honest before getting into a relationship with her. I wanted a relationship with Dani, but I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes as my dad. She would know everything about me before I asked her to trust me with her heart.

Until lately, my fear of losing her—of her not accepting me—always kept me from telling her the truth. But I couldn’t hide anymore. I needed her. I hated the “just friends” status and if I had to live it for even a day longer, I was going to go insane.

I took her hand in mine, the truth dripping from my lips, and then my thoughts completely derailed. Her hand was cold and clammy. And it was shaking. Not just trembling, but violently shaking. And she looked pale as a vampire. “Dani? Is everything okay? You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I’m fine,” she said. But her voice sounded ragged, out of breath. She reached for her head. “It’s just a headache. I haven’t been feeling all that well for the last couple weeks, but I’m okay.”

What the hell? “A couple weeks? Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”

“Because it hasn’t been that bad. I’m fine, I promise. I’m already feeling better.” She smiled and gave me her full attention. “Now, what were you saying? You wanted to tell me something?”

I wasn’t completely convinced she was fine, but I knew she’d never admit to being really sick even if she were, and the color seemed to be coming back to her cheeks, so I took her word for it and tried to refocus my thoughts back to the reason I’d brought her here tonight. “You’re my best friend.”

She frowned. “Duh….”

She really wasn’t going to make this easy. “Because you’re my best friend, there’s something I can’t hide from you anymore. But before I tell you what it is, you have to promise you’re not going to freak out.”

She stiffened next to me and sucked in a breath, but, nervous as she was, there was a spark of excitement in her eyes. I could do this. “Um….” I took her hand again as I tried to force the words out. “Dani, I…”

Damn it! Why was this so hard? I was such a freaking scardy cat.

“You…?” she prompted.

Just spit it out, idiot! You can do this! You have to do this!

“DaniI’mawarlock.”

“Huh?”

I took a deep breath and said the words again, slower this time.

“I’m a…warlock.”

She blinked at me, completely confused, so I tried to explain. “Supernatural beings, like the kind you read about in books—witches, vampires, werewolves—they’re real. I’m one of them. I’m a warlock, Dani. I have magic. My dad too.”

She blinked again. Opened her mouth. Closed it again. Blinked some more. Cocked her head to one side. Frowned. Shook her head. Opened her eyes. Blinked again. And then she plastered her hand to my forehead. “We need to get you home,” she said. “You feel way too hot. I think meningitis is supposed to make you delusional and that can kill you.”

She thought I was crazy. That was fine. She was allowed to be confused. Shocked even. It was a lot to process. “I’m not sick, Dani.”

I moved the hand she was holding against my forehead to my cheek, and shivered from the feel of her touching my face. It wasn’t a “friendly” gesture. It was intimate. And it was amazing. This was how I wanted things between us.

Dani sucked in a breath, feeling the special connection as much as me, and goose bumps exploded up and down her arms. She wanted me as much as I wanted her. I was sure of it.

But then the moment was broken and her confusion gave way to anger. Now it was time for the backlash I’d been expecting. “I know I sound crazy but—”

“Crazy?” She barked out a harsh laugh. “You don’t sound crazy. You sound like a moron!”

I flinched. She wasn’t scared or in denial, or even a little angry. She was over-the-top pissed. And she was hurt. I could see it in her eyes. But why? What had I done that hurt her? I was telling her the truth. Was it really so awful to have magic? Was it because I’d waited until she was sixteen to come clean? Had I made my dad’s mistakes after all?

“After everything you’ve done tonight to make this the most perfect birthday I’ve ever had, you’re really going to ruin it now?”

Okay, that just made me mad. I had done everything I could to make this night perfect. I’d wanted to make this as easy as possible for her. This was supposed to be a special moment between us. Why was she getting so bent out of shape and acting like a jerk? “I’m not trying to ruin it!”

“Then stop being a coward and just say what you really want to say!”

And that’s when I finally got it. She wasn’t pissed about me being a warlock. She didn’t actually believe I was one. She hadn’t heard a word I’d said. Not really. Her human mind had edited the entire conversation to fit her expectations. She knew I cared about her, and she’d thought I was finally going to admit it. It had hurt her that I hadn’t. She thought I was lying to her, making up a ridiculous story because I wussed out of telling her how much I love her.

She waited for me to say something, but I couldn’t. My throat was closed up with too much emotion. My heart was breaking. I’d been positive. So sure that Dani would be the one in a thousand who could deal with the truth. She’s the strongest, bravest, most understanding human I know. And she loves me. I know she does.

And she just didn’t get it. Couldn’t get it. Her mind was simply human. It wasn’t her fault, but how could I ever be with her now? I couldn’t tell her the truth and risk breaking her mind. My secret had to stay a secret. But how would I ever explain this?

Just then, the back porch lights of Brad’s house flicked on. “Who’s out there?” Mr. Halloway shouted. “I’m calling the sheriff!”

It was time to go. Dani and I bolted before they let the dogs out of the house, and we didn’t get a chance to talk again. She ran home and stopped me with a look when I tried to follow her. I’d have to think of something—some way to fix this—tomorrow because she needed a few hours to cool off.

***

 

 

Cinder & Ella Video Read Along

This is a video read-along that I did for the Cinder & Ella book release ball. I introduce the book and then read the prologue and chapter one.

Enjoy!