《The Kissing Game》Chapter 27
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By now everyone thought that Axel would get the kiss, but I understood. It was obvious. From how close we were, even the dullest students could tell that he meant something to me. So, I didn't mind the murmurs of Axel and I.
I smiled out of nowhere in class and Hannah frowned. Class would start soon and I was too busy thinking about that to speak to her, which I knew wasn't very nice. I knew I had to fill her in with my life.
"You seem happy," Hannah commented, raising her eyebrows.
"I am," I answered, grinning as Hannah took a chug at her water bottle. "I like Axel."
Hannah choked on her water and I smiled shyly. Once she was calm she stared at me with wide eyes, causing me to blush.
"Oh my god!" she screamed. "You do!"
My face went red as I shushed her. She giggled and I rolled my eyes, but grinned. I couldn't stop smiling at this point.
"So, what about the game?" Hannah asked excitedly.
"If anyone will get the kiss, it will be him," I said, shrugging. "But I won't be passing the kiss anytime soon."
"Why not?"
"Honestly, I don't know if he actually cares about me." I looked over to where he sat and sighed, seeing that he wasn't in class yet. "I don't want to give him the kiss and have him forget about me."
"Oh Zoey." Hannah frowned. "Axel cares about you. I really do think he likes you, but nothing can be said for sure. But from the way he looks at you, it's obvious you mean something to him."
I looked at her, hopeful. "Are you sure?"
She grinned. "Definitely."
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My heart lightened up. I had been worried about Axel's intentions, but I was also hoping he liked me back. Hannah's words gave me hope and I decided to hold on to them.
"Did you ever say sorry Xavier?" Hannah suddenly asked.
I flushed, looking at the boy I had ditched at the dance. He was sitting alone, studying, and guilt wrung my heart. I had totally forgotten about him and with him brought to my attention, I realized what I did wrong.
"No," I answered, ashamed. "I should though."
"Why did you ditch him?" Hannah asked.
"I... I don't know," I frowned. "Axel just has a way of distracting me. He just consumes my attention and- Oh God, Hannah. This is exactly why love is annoying. The feeling is just too much."
Hannah laughed lightly. She seemed to enjoying this.
"How do you handle it?" I asked, huffing. "You like Archer."
"It is consuming and distracting and almost annoying, but it's worth it," Hannah said, smiling. "It's such a wonderful feeling and when your feelings are reciprocated, you feel unexplainably happy."
I wondered about that happiness. A part of me wanted it. But, I wouldn't go for it. Not for now, at least.
"Will you ever tell Axel how you feel?" Hannah suddenly asked.
"Maybe at the end of the year." I looked down, blushing. "I don't know to be honest."
"Are you scared?"
My head flew up at the question. No matter how much I tried to push the feeling away, I had an answer to it.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm scared of him breaking my heart."
I looked away, embarrassed. I had always been so strong, so courageous, and I had once thought that my heart could never be broken. But I realized that that possibility did exist when you liked someone and to my shame, I had to admit I was scared of it. Heartbreak was a painful thing from what I heard, so I didn't want to face it.
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"Oh Zoey," Hannah said, eyes softening. "He could possibly break your heart, anyone can, but don't let that stop you. Even if love can be temporary, for the time it is there it's worth it. So don't let something like fear get in your way."
"Really?" I asked, hopeful.
"Really."
Hannah looked so sincere that I smiled. Maybe she was right. Even if love was temporary, even if it wasn't perfect, it seemed worth it. There was a reason why society was so obsessed with love, so I knew that maybe I should try for it.
*****
My parents and I were sitting at the dining table. Mom and Dad were talking about something, smiling with joy as they joked around. I was staring at them, suddenly thinking about what I had done.
Despite Mom's wishes, I had fell for a boy. I had fallen for the boy she didn't like and I knew she wouldn't be happy. Actually, I knew she'd freak out.
It was strange to think of how hard I tried to please her and my dad, and all of the sudden I was doing the one thing they were strongly against. A few months ago I wouldn't dare disobey them, but things had changed. Axel had changed me.
"Zoey," Mom suddenly said, zoning me back in. "Why are you staring at us?"
"Oh... Sorry," I said, slumping in my seat. "I... I was just thinking."
"About?" Dad asked.
What you would do if Axel and I got together, I thought, blushing. It was something I wanted and although I hated myself for such thoughts, I had to be honest. I liked Axel and I wanted him to be mine. It was crazy knowing that, but from what Hannah said, I hoped it would be worth it.
"What are you thinking about?" Mom asked, frowning.
I stared at her and blushed when I saw that she was analyzing me. She knew me well and I knew she could tell I was thinking about Axel. It was obvious from the slight anger filling her eyes.
The tension was growing thick in the room and a heavy silence had fallen over us as Mom waited for a reply. I couldn't reply however, because I couldn't lie to Mom. Even after everything, I wanted her to be proud of me. She wouldn't be proud of a liar.
Thankfully, Luke suddenly entered the room, saving me from having to speak the truth or a lie, which would end with me in trouble either way. He grinned that grin I knew too well from Axel and I sighed. Luke was so carefree and I wished I could be like that.
Things went back to the usual as Luke acted like an idiot and brought smiles to my parents faces. I pretended to be happy as well, but a part of me fell sad, knowing my parents wouldn't be happy with my feelings. But truthfully, I knew I couldn't force my feelings away. I was stuck with them and I wouldn't hide away from them.
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Rise
Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1136Phoenix's Requiem
Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
8 646Poison Physician Consort
Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
8 1749Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season
Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
8 274The Attack of the Wastrel
Her rebirth gave her a second chance at life. She was back with a vengeance and wanted to make those that had harmed her pay. But to those that helped her, she wanted to repay them. Her evil stepmother? She would slowly pull out her claws, one by one. Her evil stepsister? She would crush her pride. She thought that by getting her revenge for her past life, she would be happy in this life. However, she never would have thought that danger would chance upon her time and time again. The hatred from her clan and whether their bloodline would continue to exist, lay solely on her shoulders. Luckily, on this thorny path, someone had always been protecting her. "Third Prince, have you ever regretted being with me?" That person laughed lightly and peered at her with a loving yet weary look, "As long as I am together with you, I have no regrets."
8 1461Demoness's Art of Vengeance
Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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