A Lasting Storm: Chapter One

DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE FINISHED THE FIRST BOOK: BOLT FROM THE BLUE

This is the first chapter to A Lasting Storm. It is fraught with spoilers to Bolt, the first book. If you don't want to ruin it. And I would DEF say not to. I would say skip this entry. SKIP THIS ENTRY!!! Seriously . . .

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Chapter One: Not You

I knew I was in trouble when Ms. Parker announced that we were about to begin our Shakespeare unit. “These next few weeks are going to be exciting, I am sure. We will start with some of Shakespeare’s sonnets before diving into the tragedy of Hamlet; completing the unit with one of his comedies: The Taming of the Shrew. Today, we are going to look at some of his sonnets that I will pick at random.”

There was a collective groan in the class, but all I could think about was Blake and Flyboy and his obsession with all things Shakespeare. I sneaked a quick peek over at him, seeing if he was foaming at the mouth or something. But Blake looked just as disinterested as ever. Did he hide his Shakespeare expertise from everybody but me? I certainly hoped so. Not because I wanted to share that secret with him, but because I didn’t know what I would do if Blake stood up there and started reciting Shakespeare to the class.

“Now I need a volunteer to come up to the front of the room and read one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.” There were none. Ms. Parker frowned. Suddenly her face brightened as she turned towards Blake’s side of the room.
I felt my heart plummet as I saw his hand, raised a bit lazily, in the air. I was so dead. Blake unfolded himself, slowly, from his seat and made his way to the front of the room.

“Did you forget your book, you can borrow mine,” Ms. Parker said as Blake when she saw that his hands were empty. He gave her a slow, easy grin before winking quickly in my direction. I felt a quick jolt run through my body. I shook it away.

“I won’t need it, but thank you.”

“But—” she said. “I didn’t tell you what sonnet I wanted you to recite.”

“I know them all,” he replied.

“All 154 of them?!” She laughed.

“Try me.”
She looked down at her book. “How about sonnet 18?”

Blake raised both of his eyebrows and said, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Shakespeare’s most famous sonnet. A five-year-old could recite that. Give me a challenge, I won’t fail.” He flashed another grin and Ms. Parker looked back down at her book, flipping through the pages.

“If you insist . . . how about Sonnet 75?”

“So are you to my thoughts as food to life?” She nodded. Blake turned towards the classroom with a grin. His eyes closed for a long moment. Some of the students became restless. I thought perhaps he had forgotten the words, but then, he spoke—

So are you to my thoughts as food to life,
Or as sweet-season'd showers are to the ground;

My body started to act irrationally as his voice filled the room. He didn’t quite have an English accent, but his voice was lilting and precise all the same. His words were filled with longing and I could feel the currents of energy race through my veins, begging me to let them escape. I held my breath.

And for the peace of you I hold such strife
As 'twixt a miser and his wealth is found;
Now proud as an enjoyer and anon
Doubting the filching age will steal his treasure,
Now counting best to be with you alone,
Then better'd that the world may see my pleasure;
Sometime all full with feasting on your sight

Before that moment, he had been looking around the classroom as he spoke. But suddenly his eyes met mine and I could feel as he began to feast on my sight. His chocolate eyes connected with mine as if he couldn’t look away. And as much as I was trying not to be affected by his voice, this particular sonnet, with his particular tone meant something. I just wasn’t sure what.

And by and by clean starved for a look;
Possessing or pursuing no delight,
Save what is had or must from you be took.
Thus do I pine and surfeit day by day,
Or gluttoning on all, or all away.

I tried to ignore the heating of my face. I was finally able to break away from his gaze. As Blake finished the sonnet, there was a resounding sigh from all of the girls in the room. I glanced around quickly and saw dopey-eyed girls leaning forward with their head in their hands. Their looks snapped me out of Blake’s spell. You had to be kidding me! Even Ms. Parker seemed entranced.

“Well, that was—” I couldn’t believe it, she actually giggled. Ms. Parker quickly covered the giggle by clearing her throat and addressing the class. “Can anybody tell me what this poem means?”

One girl whose name I didn’t know raised her hand. “It means that Kat must be the luckiest girl in this room.” She winked at Blake before mimicking a phone to her ear. I instantly felt guilty for letting Blake draw me into his sonnet. But he didn’t seem fazed.

Ms. Parker sighed before asking, “Can anybody give any comments about the poem perhaps?”

“I think it’s speaking about the internal struggle of somebody’s feelings for another person,” a voice said.

“That’s a start, can you elaborate on what you mean?”

Nobody responded. That’s when I realized that I was the one who said that. “Well . . .” I replied, oh so eloquently. I made the mistake of looking at Blake. His eyes flashed that something again before I quickly glanced back down at my hands, trying to ignore the heating of my face. “This man cares a lot for this woman. He feels as if he would die if he couldn’t think of her—thus the first two lines. But he’s afraid that he may think of her too often and that it’s hazardous to his health or whatever. He’s either starving from not seeing her enough or being gluttonous for thinking about her too much. He can’t seem to find a middle ground.” I stopped for a second before adding one last thought. “Oh! And he struggles with whether or not he should continue to keep her to himself or show her off to the world. I guess he’s afraid if he shows her off, somebody will try to take her from him.”

“And which do you think is the better solution?” Ms. Parker questioned.

“I think . . .” I paused, looking at Blake, and giving him a hard smile before continuing, “I think that he should stick with somebody that doesn’t cause so much struggle.”

“Oh, Adaline!” Ms. Parker clapped her hands. “But that struggle is just part of what it means to be in love.”

If Blake Pierce was in love with me then I was going to have to shoot myself. “And do you think she would be stolen from him if he chose to show her off?” Blake asked the question and Ms. Parker seemed startled that he was still up there.

“It begs the question of whether or not she was his to show off in the first place,” I answered, raising my brows.

“I don’t know if I understand what you’re getting at Adaline,” said Ms. Parker.
“The lines: Possessing or pursuing no delight, Save what is had or must from you be took, makes me think that the object of his affections doesn’t really have a say. It seems like he’s trying to make her his without her leave.” Take that and shove it!

“Interesting interpretation, but very insightful, Adaline. You should speak up more in class,” Ms. Parker said. “Any other observations about this sonnet?” Some other students gave their insights, but I had zoned out. Blake had given me a very interesting look after my last comment and I knew that I had accidentally (okay, maybe not so accidently) issued a challenge. And Blake seemed more than willing to take me up on the offer.

The discussion finally came to a close and Ms. Parker gave Blake, who was leaning against her desk, permission to go sit down. “Mind if I try one more?” he asked, pushing himself from the desk with a smile that spelled trouble.

She looked startled, but pleased. “Of course.”

“Sonnet 145?” He asked with that same mysterious grin on his face. Whatever that sonnet was, I knew it couldn’t be any good. My heart had barely regained normalcy after the first sonnet. He wanted to torture me with a second?!

In the last sonnet, Blake’s voice was melodious, deep, heart-wrenching. But when he began to recite this poem, his voice was a lot more carefree and I realized instantly that he was teasing me. I just found it hard to believe that he had tricked me into being the butt of one of Shakespeare’s stupid sonnets.

Those lips that Love's own hand did make
Breathed forth the sound that said 'I hate'
To me that languish'd for her sake;
But when she saw my woeful state,
Straight in her heart did mercy come,
Chiding that tongue that ever sweet
Was used in giving gentle doom,
And taught it thus anew to greet:
'I hate' she alter'd with an end,
That follow'd it as gentle day
Doth follow night, who like a fiend
From heaven to hell is flown away;
'I hate' from hate away she threw,
And saved my life, saying 'not you.'

I was tempted to scream that I took the “not you” part back. But I was pretty sure that I would get a few strange looks in the process. He gave an exaggerated bow before walking back to his seat, passing mine on the way. It wasn’t my desk he tapped gently on, but his girlfriend, Kat’s. That move really wanted me to scream. Not because I liked him. I may have been intrigued by the mystery of Flyboy, but there was no way I liked Blake Pierce. No, it was because he was toying with Kat’s heart and trying to play with mine as well. I wondered if there was Shakespeare quote about that.

--

If I would have had any inkling that Blake was Flyboy, I would have never kissed him. He had a girlfriend, who already had enough of a reason to hate me. Besides, Blake was certainly not my type. I had never been a big fan of rockers. I was still struggling over the shock that I felt when I first discovered Flyboy’s true identity last Friday.

I had been minding my own business when Blake decided to come and butt into my life, demanding me for a dance. I asked him where Kat was, but he just brushed the question aside and yanked me to the floor, forcing me to do this stupid waltz.
And then . . . I could smell him. And I finally had a name for that glorious smell: sandalwood. I commented on the smell and suddenly Blake was speaking in a British accent. Before I could even wrap my brain around Blake and Flyboy being the same person, Blake bent down and kissed me.

So it was understandable that I gave into his kiss just a little bit. Flyboy’s lips always felt so nice against mine and he didn’t seem to mind the fact that energy always burst through my lips—and every other part of my body—each time he kissed me. His arm around my waist tightened as his other hand came up to cup the back of my head. I bite his lower lip slightly and I could feel his smile. Suddenly, as our tongues touched, our feet left the ground. There was nothing like flying to get you grounded.

What the hell,” I hissed before pulling away and slapping him. “Anybody could see us. I have a boyfriend—wait—you have a girlfriend.”

“Oh right,” he muttered, rubbing his cheek. “I’m Blake.”

“What?” I asked, wondering if maybe the entire Blake being Flyboy thing was a big misunderstanding. But then I remembered that he had us floating over the gym floor.

“I’m Blake, not Flyboy,” he answered as if that made perfect sense. “Meet you tonight, okay?”

And I didn’t really want to meet him later that night, but when he knows where you live, it’s a bit difficult to hide. “I had a wonderful time tonight,” Josh said as he brushed a strand of hair away from my face, leaving his hand cradled there.
I smiled up at Josh, trying to forget about my earlier meeting with Flyboy. “I did too. I’m glad you asked me.” He was bending down to kiss me when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. That something was hovering. I couldn’t help it. I yelped.

“What is it?!” Josh swerved around.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, my face turning red. “I thought I saw a . . . dog.” Ingenious excuse, I know. Flyboy had flown up when Josh had turned around, but now he was staring at us again. I pointedly ignored him. “Goodnight Josh,” I said before standing on my tip-toes and giving him a lingering kiss. The kind of lingering kiss that involved a little tongue action. “I wouldn’t have gone tonight with anybody else.”

I hoped that Flyboy/Cary/Blake Pierce had heard that message loud and clear.
I walked inside the house, thankful that all the lights were out and waited until I was sure that Josh had made it over to his own home, before walking right back out that front door. “What the hell are you doing here?!” I hissed.

“I can’t believe you kissed him,” he said. “Right in front of me like that.”

“Um, he’s my boyfriend,” I replied. “Who else should I be kissing?”

“Me.” I couldn’t even refute his comment. I had walked right into that trap. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

“I’m still angry with you Blake,” I said.

“For one little kiss?”

“It was not a little kiss,” I hissed lowly. “And it was right in the middle of the gym. Anybody could have seen us. Oh God. Somebody could have seen us.”

“Nobody saw us,” Blake sighed. “I wouldn’t have kissed you like that if I thought somebody could have seen us. It was dark and smoky and we were hidden behind a carpet. Now come on.” He grabbed my hand. “You owe me.”

I yanked my hand away. “I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“We had a deal. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Now it’s time to fulfill yours.”

“What deal?!”

“If I told you who I was, you would dance with me. Now, Addie, love, you know who I am. So let’s dance.”

“We already danced.”

“No!” he said. “You danced with Blake. Now you dance with me.”

“You are Blake!” I said.

“Not tonight, I’m not. I’m the masked man.” Oh God. He really did have a personality disorder. “Now we can either dance here, on your front porch, where your boyfriend could walk out and see us at any moment. Or we can go to someplace more secluded.”
Where he’d have even more of a chance to try and seduce me.

“Let’s go,” I muttered, not even bothering to go inside and change. Or even to take off my heels. Flyboy trailed behind me laughing as I stalked off.

We ended up going to a small park that was just outside of the housing development.
There were more trees there than I would have liked, but nothing was biting me. Yet.
“What are you doing?!” I asked shocked when I saw Flyboy pulling his mask off. Every single time that mask moved from his face, there were dangerous consequences.

“Well there’s no point of me keeping this on now that you know who I am,” he replied simply, running his hands through his black hair. I couldn’t help but to swallow hard at that simple gesture.

“If you touch me with those stupid lips of yours again . . .”

“Is that what they are now?” he asked. “Stupid? Because I’ve never heard you complain when you felt them.”

“I mean it Fl-Blake!” My voice faltered slightly on his name, not quite sure what I should call him. It still felt weird sparring with Blake Pierce like this . . . especially since he had British accent.

“Okay, okay.” He laughed. “No more lip-locking for the night. You’ve probably had too much anyways.” I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms.

“Let’s get this dance thing over with.” He came to stand in front of me, handing me an ear-bud. “What’s that for?” He held up his I pod.

“I told you there would be music.” I gingerly took the earbud; when our hands touched, sparks flew between us. Blake grinned knowingly and I steadily avoided his face as I put the offending thing in my ear.

We now were connected by a little piece of white cord and for some reason this was more intimate than dancing. In a strange way. The song began, I didn’t recognize it immediately but it was nice. Slow and a little jazzy. Flyboy took my hand in his and wrapped his arm around my waist. I was immediately engulfed in his scent . . . the smell of sandalwood.

Then the words began: “Come Fly With Me, Let’s fly, Let’s fly away.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” I groaned, pushing him away. “I’m not dancing with you to this song!”

“Why not?” There was a pout to his voice. And I tried not to admit how endearing it was to me.

“Because it’s cheesy.”

“Just because I can fly?”

“Just pick a different song.”

“Fine,” he sighed, pulling away slightly to scroll through his IPod. I tried to look over his shoulder to see his next choice, but he covered the screen, looking up at me with melting grin. I felt my knees buckle slightly. I still had half a headphone in my ear so we were closer than I would have liked. But I knew if I took the earbud out, Blake would know how much his nearness was affecting me.

Not that the currents running through my system didn’t tip him off.

I peeked at him from beneath my lashes. He was seriously concentrating on the song choice. I guessed music was important to him. That made sense, considering he was part of a band. “I think you’ll like this one,” he murmured pulling me back in his embrace as he pressed play.

I was surprised that the song was pretty upbeat. It was one of those songs that wasn’t quite slow but wasn’t fast either. I didn’t recognize the singer. He had a nice voice though: when you feel all alone and the world has turned its back on you.

Just give me a moment please to tame your wild, wild heart . . .

The words went on and despite the upbeat nature of the song, Blake and I barely swayed to the music. I was steadily staring at his neck, too afraid to look up at him. I could feel his gaze on mine. His breath was hot against my cheek.
It wasn’t until the chorus began to play that I realized why Blake had taken the risk of choosing a song with such a beat.

Let me be the one you call
If you jump I’ll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You’re not alone

But for some reason, I didn’t find the fly line nearly as cheesy. If anything, I felt comforted by the notion. I breathed in deeply, sandalwood engulfing my senses, before leaning into the nape of his neck.

His head rested on top of the top of mine as his arm tightened against my waist. And suddenly my feet had left the ground and we were spinning above the trees. My other hand had left his to wrap itself around his neck and I looked up at him to smile. But I found him staring down at my face, a very serious look in his eye. Almost as if he was trying to figure something out.

My mouth grew dry and I found that I couldn’t look away. “I don’t know if I could,” he finally murmured.

“Could what?”

“Let you crash. Not if I knew I could save you.” I didn’t have anything to say to his comment. Only I knew that it scared me.

The song came to a close; from beneath my lashes, I could see his eyes grow darker. He had yet to place me back on solid ground. It was so surreal to be looking at Blake like that. Looking at him and knowing that he was my Flyboy.
Blake Pierce, boyfriend of Kat Florence and me, Adaline Sparks, girlfriend of Josh Watson. The two of us, dancing near the stars, one of us, at least trying to ignore the rapidness of her heartbeat. There were many things wrong with this picture.

“Put me down please,” I murmured. Blake instantly complied. I sat against one of the trees, not caring if I ruined my dress as I looked up at the stars. I could feel his body heat near me, but we weren’t touching.

“Are you disappointed?” He suddenly asked.

I knew exactly what he meant, but didn’t answer for a long time. “Surprised,” I finally said. “I had no clue that you—I mean, you have a girlfriend.”

“Kat,” he said simply.

“And you never gave any indication that you were remotely interested in me.”

“I’m a better actor than I thought,” Blake said. “I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen the moment you walked into our English classroom. And when I realized that you were Volt—” He broke off. “That’s how I found out the truth so quickly,” he confessed. “I had been watching you from day one.”

My face turned red at the confession and his hand came out to grab my chin, forcing me to look at him. He didn’t say anything for a long time. And when he finally spoke, I could tell he had chosen his words very carefully. “I understand,” he said, his gaze intent. “If you don’t want to see me again after tonight.”
I shook my head; both of us were shocked by the vehemence. “I don’t want that,” I said. “I just hate—”

“Not me.” He interrupted, quirking his lips slightly.

“Not you,” I said with a soft smile on my face. “I just hate this situation. Things were a lot easier when you were still a mystery.”

“Which is why I wanted to wait until the time was right.”

“Well, it wasn’t my fault that you let your guard slip!”

“Trust me,” he muttered. “It was entirely your fault.”

“I never—”

Flyboy suddenly stood, holding out a hand for me to grab. I took it, reluctantly, and he pulled me up quickly. I rammed into his rock hard chest before pulling back. “It’s getting late and you’ve had a long night. May I escort you home?”

I nodded before going to climb on his back. But Blake stopped me. “Do you mind?” he whispered before gathering me in his arms. I instantly freaked out.

“Put me down!”

“I take it you do,” he said as I pushed him away and put a few feet of distance between us. I began walking back towards my house. “Don’t be like that Addie!” He followed after me. “I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t make me uncomfortable,” I snapped. “You pissed me off!”

“For wanting to hold you?”

“For treating me like a- a-” I sputtered. “It’s not like that between us okay? I have Josh who I care for very deeply. And you have Kat and I don’t know what your feelings are for her, but I know that she likes you.”

“So that’s how it is?”

“How did you think it was going to be Blake? That I was going to have some crazy affair with you? I’m not that kind of girl!” Disregard previous accidental trysts.

“We are just friends!”

“But see, that’s the problem Addie. Friendship is constant in all things. Save in the office and affairs of love.”

“And stop with all the Shakespeare,” I hissed, blushing from his words. “And that stupid British accent. You’re not even from England!”

“Says who?!”

“I’ve changed my mind,” I said bluntly. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

“Adaline, we go to school together. We’re in the same English class.”

“Well, I don’t want to see you like this!” And without another word, I stalked off.
And I hadn’t seen him. Not for the entire weekend. But then Ms. Parker had to go and start the Shakespeare unit. And I knew that if I wasn’t careful, the smoldering hate I felt for Blake at that moment would turn into something else entirely.

--

--Songs mentioned: Come Fly With Me. By Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Countless others. I tend to believe that Blake would have the Sinatra version. He probably wouldn’t be a big fan of Buble.

Crash and Burn. By Savage Garden. Savage Garden rules.

Chapter 22 SneakPeek

An Excerpt from the 22nd Chapter of Bolt from the Blue:

I was at my locker, grabbing my books after last period when I saw Kevin. It seemed as if we had been missing each other a lot lately. “Hey!” I walked over to where he was sitting. “How are . . .” my words trailed off when I saw his red eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, uh, it’s nothing.” He jumped to his feet, pulled his backpack over his shoulder, and attempted to walk away.

“It doesn’t look like nothing,” I said, blocking his path. “Is it A.J. and the guys again?”

“No,” he laughed harshly. “God no! Do you think those nincompoops have the power to upset me? It’s nothing, really.”

“I just want to help,” I said.

“There’s nothing you can do to help, so just back off!”

“Oh,” I said, turned off by his attitude, I turned to leave.

“No, don’t,” he said, grabbing my arm. “It’s just that a year ago today my mother lost her battle with cancer.”

“She . . .”

“Died, yeah.” He gave a wry smile, releasing my arm to run it through his hair. “She used to teach English in that classroom there.” He pointed towards the door he had been sitting beside.

“I’m sorry, Kevin.” I placed what I hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“I always found that to be a weird phrase . . . sorry . . . as if it were somehow your fault.” Kevin shook his head. “It’s been a year, but I still feel as if I watched her take her last breath yesterday. It was so hard watching her waste away in that hospital. I would visit her everyday—she always seemed smaller and frailer—she could barely turn the pages as she read to me—and then she was gone.”

My mind had forgotten how to form words. How did one reply to that. I had always been bad at being comforting. “Would you like to go do something?” I finally blurted, not even caring about band practice. It wasn’t like I was going to join anyways. “Maybe grab a bite to eat, get your mind off of things.”

“Nah,” he shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t need a pity date.”

“It’s not a pity—”

“Really, Adaline. I have to get to football practice anyways.”

“I could wait—”

“Then I have my work internship. But thanks for listening.” He squeezed my shoulder before walking away.

Chapter 18 Sneak Peek

So I about threw out another Kelsey passage. I think I may have an unnatural obsession with her character. LOL. She def my favorite minor character, that's for sure. I'm already in the working for conjuring up a special somebody for her in book two. (But you didn't hear that from me *cough*)

So, instead, I shall give THIS sneaky-peeky!

--

“Still want to find out some things about Mr. Mendez.” He didn’t even have to ask the question. “We’re going to have to go through your father’s papers. We need to see what he’s been doing.”

“You mean like trespass?”

“Addie!” he hissed. “I don’t know if you realize this, but you’re in your own home.”

“Yes, but his office is like his private dominion.”

“And we’re going to have to take a look at his private dominion if you want to find anything out about this Mendez bloke.” But still I hesitated at the door. “I never took you to be a coward.”

“I’m not a coward!” I pushed him aside and pushed open my father’s office door. Too late, I realized that I had played right into his hands. My temper flared even more, but I shoved it down as I went over to my father’s desk. I should get a medal for self-control.

“So what is it we’re looking for?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered as I looked down at my father’s desk. I was surprised to see it so cluttered. I had always taken him to be a very neat man. I felt an unexpected tug of sadness. I really knew so little about him. “This was your idea.”

“Have you really done no investigating?”

“I fight crimes. I don’t attempt to solve them.”

“And you’re supposed to be everybody’s hero . . .” Not anymore though . . . I tried to ignore the pain that was pressing on all sides of my body. The greatest hero had fallen. “Look for a letter or a document marked private. See if he had a key. Perhaps there’s a safe in here where your father keeps all of his important documents.”

I highly doubted it. But then again . . . what did I know about my father? I ignored the mess that covered his desk and instead opened up his front drawer. He’s going to find out that I went through his things. I just knew it. Flyboy was already riffling through all of the papers that were sprawled across the desk. Apparently, he had no qualms with going through other people’s stuff.

“Stop hesitating, you certainly didn’t have a problem trying to get into my drawers,” he said. His phrasing made me blush slightly, even though I realized he was talking about the night I tried to break into his own desk. I looked down at the drawer I had opened. It was full of letters. I had hit the jackpot.

I quickly glanced at the return addresses on a few of them. My grandmother. My dad’s best friend from college, Larry. My uncle Thomas who had yet to grow up . . . currently I believed he was in Kansas City. Bentley . . . Bentley?! What could my father possibly have to say to Bentley?

I dropped all of the other letters in my hand and pulled the letter out of the already ripped envelope. “Find something interesting?” Flyboy asked as he laid the pages he was perusing aside.

I ignored him, focusing on the letter.

Dear Charles,

Thank you for writing about your concerns for Adaline. You are correct in assuming that I have been maintaining contact with her since the move. This adjustment has not been easy on her. After all, The City life is all she has ever known. However, I believe that she is beginning to embrace her life in Shelton a bit too much. From what I can perceive from our phone conversations, she has been spending time with questionable characters. Your daughter is a good lass, but she is overly naïve as well. Take special care to keep watch over her. Her friends, which have been influencing her, may be part of the motives behind her rebellious nature as of late. While it is normal for teenagers to experiment and try new things, I believe it’s safe to say that both of us want to keep our Adaline out of harm’s way. Cutting back on hours at work and spending time at home may be one way to help bring Adaline back from this dangerous road she has been traveling down since arriving in Shelton.

Regards,

Bentley

I didn’t know which was more of a shock. The fact that my father actually noticed me enough to care about my well-being to write about it to Bentley or the fact that Bentley would tell my father such outrageous lies.

I knew which one hurt the most.

---

Wooooo . . . . Chapter Eighteen RULES!!!! lol. Sorry. We're looking at a major story about Volt on the Sunday paper, a sophomore butting into a certain superhero's life, AND a major secret revealed!!!!

FIN

So . . . I just finished the first draft of Bolt from the Blue. (Insert crazy SHRIEKING!) In case you wanted the final count on the first draft, it's: 369 pages, 142,030 words, and 39 chapters. Exciting, I know. There are a few scenes I need to go back and expand. And also some details about characters that manifested in the later chapters that I'd like to go back and add to earlier chapters. But for all intents and purposes, I am ready to get started on the second book. (Name is still TBD, but when I figure it out, I shall be sure to tell you.)

*SHRIEKS AGAIN*

Um. I'll probably post the next chapter in celebration.

Nights!

(Or as Flyboy would say: "Goodnight, goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow.")

Sneak Peek at Chapter 14

Adaline gets relationship advice from Kelsey . . . and crashes into somebody's car.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

“This guy has been constantly hitting on me since the moment we met and I just don’t know what to do about it. I think he’s trying to lead me on, but that sad thing is that I’m letting him. I mean earlier this morning, we almost—” I faltered, turning red.

“Had sex?” Kelsey inserted, which only caused me to heat up even more.

“No! Kissed.” She scoffed and I shot her another withering glare.

“My advice to you is to get it over with and kiss him. If he’s leading you on, then you’ll know. I mean isn’t there some song about knowing a guy is in love in his kiss or something? Of course . . . that song was written before guys learned that they could screw any girl they wanted to with a well-placed word, so who knows if your guy loves you or is just looking to get some.”

“Cut it with the sex references please,” I begged. I mean, she was only fifteen after all. She couldn’t even drive. But then again . . . neither could I. I hated being on this stupid bus. “Besides, it’s more complicated then whether or not to kiss him. I don’t even know the guy.”

“You mean, because you just met him? It’s Josh isn’t it? That guy is head-over-heels for you. Don’t worry. Besides, the two of you look so cute together.”

“It’s not Josh. And you better not tell anybody I’ve been talking to you about this either.”

“So you have two guys then?” She asked.

“No. I have no guys.”

“And what do you mean you don’t know this guy?”

“I mean, I literally don’t know him. I don’t even know his name.” I figured it’d be a bit too obvious if I told her I’ve never seen his face either. As it was, I didn’t know why I was pouring my heart out to this girl, other than the fact that all these emotions were boiling inside of me and I had to let it out somehow.

“Ooo, kinky. How’d you meet?”

Now that one would be really hard to explain. “It doesn’t really matter. Look, just forget I said anything. There is so many details that I can’t even begin to explain and considering you just told me that a kiss will prove that he either doesn’t love me or that he’s trying to—” How sad was it that I couldn’t even form the words. “I believe it’s safe to say that I should stay as far away from him as possible.”

“As if!” She scoffed. “You’re young. You’re free. These are the best days of your life. Don’t waste them away be letting hot, mysterious men disappear—he is hot right?” I nodded my head. I wasn’t positive of course, but he had a nice voice, great hands, and the most intoxicating smell. That alone spelled gorgeous to me. “It’s like all those stupid romance movies where two people fall in love but they don’t do anything about it. Then they find each other like ten years later and realize it’s too late. Or maybe it’s not too late, but still, they wasted ten of their most primeval years being apart.”

“I don’t think that primeval was the word you were looking for.”

“Whatever. The point is, Addie—”

“Don’t call me that!” I interrupted.

“Why not??”

“Because he calls me that.” I couldn’t believe I just admitted that out loud. “Besides.” I tacked on. “I hate nicknames.”

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

Hope you enjoyed your sneak peek. Thanks so much for stopping by my site!!

Cassandra

Nominations, Sequels, and What's To Come

I wanted to start off by giving a shout-out to RYTwinDemon for nominating me for the Supernatural Story Awards. I've been nominated for: Best Romance, Funniest Characters, Best Plot, and Most Memorable Characters. (Whoa! That's a lot!) THANK YOU so much for your nomination. It really means a lot. I know there's a forum for their site on FictionPress and they may have a website too. I'll do some snooping later and find out. And I'll be sure to add the link on the right hand column when I do, so that you can see the other stories that have been nominated!

Also, I'm still about five chapters or so out from Bolt from the Blue. I know exactly what's going to happen. All I have to do is write it. And boy, these last few chapters have a few of the hardest passages to write. (When I get that far in posting, you'll see why!) I don't really want to give anything away or even much of a hint but when I first started writing this story, I didn't know it'd be this hard to keep the ending the way I first envisioned it. Kind of makes me emotional.

*clears throat*

Soo . . . on the bright side, a plot is finally coming together for the second book. And I even have a pretty good inkling of what I want to do with the third. Now I just need to come up with a catchy title. The second book will probably cover a much greater time span The majority of the first book is covered in one month. I want the second book to cover up until a week or two before Adaline's high school graduation.

That's all for this update! If you're hanging around, reading this, I'd love for you to drop a comment. Nothing fancy, it can just be a: "I'm here!" Just so I know if this is something that actually interests people. (Never fear! I won't stop just because 'not enough people' are reading the blog. It only takes one interested person. =) )

Well, that's all I have for today. If you want, tell me what kind of things you'd like to see on here. I do eventually want to write out character profiles. Although for some people it may be more difficult than others to write. I mean, saying too much could give away things that are important for plot development. It may end up being mini-profiles before I finish Bolt from the Blue. And extensive ones, with *spoiler* alerts once the first book is finished.

Now I really AM done!

Celebrity Takes of Bolt from the Blue Characters

It's what we all love to know: Celebrity photos!!! I'm not the best at this game . . . and I love some of my choices more than others. However, I did want to give you an idea of how I see some of my characters. I don't look so much at hair or eye color, although some are similar. Rather, I look at faces and how they have previously acted.

Some of the actresses/actors that I picked are from their younger days, so bear with me, okay?! I suppose I'm getting to that age when I need to find all the young stars, but they all seem like they're from Disney, wouldn't ya know?! LOL. Without further ado:

Adaline Sparks: I see her as a younger Rachael Leigh Cook. With blue hair and green eyes. (And in case you didn't know, Adaline is a natural blonde.) Why RLC, you may ask me?! Because even though she acts tough, the fact still remains that Adaline looks cute. I don't know about you, but I would never have guessed that "cute little Addie" (never call her that to her face!) would be a crime-fighting machine:

(For your viewing pleasure, I have also added the first girl I envisioned as Adaline. I have no clue who she is and I'm pretty sure that I photoshopped her hair color, but I am forever grateful.)












Up next, we have Joshie boy. I had one view of him when I first started the book. But I think I found somebody who fits him better. (Shout out to Music.Junkie4 for our talks on Supernatural and the beautiful JENSEN ACKLES!) Josh Watson has brown hair and blue eyes, in case you forgot.




And now, our very dear water boy, Kevin Brenton. He has brown hair and gray eyes. And who other to play him but General Hospital star (don't mock me, I just watched it for one summer and happened to fall in love with Spinelli's character!) Bradford Anderson.


Next is our like favorite sophomore. (Who IS played by a Disney star, but I wouldn't have it any other way.) Kelsey West has blond hair and brown eyes and looks an awful lot like: Emily Osment.


I made Sophy Peterson to be the most pretty but natural girl in the story. So she has to be played by somebody with natural perfection. Naturally. ^_^ As much as I can't stand Lana on Smallville, I have loved Kristin Kruek since I first saw her in that one rendition of Snow White. Ergo, Sophy is the epitome Kristin.


Blake Pierce has that "tough" rebel guy look going for him, so we're going to bring back my favorite tough rebel guy (you know, before he became a nurse in Heroes), Milo Ventimiglia. Blake has brown eyes and black hair.


And now for his girlfriend the "lovely" Kathryn Florence. Another Heroes character, also before she played in Heroes. This is a la Drive Me Crazy Days. Ali Lauter with shorter hair.


Josh's best friend, Dustin Sullivan, also plays quite attractive character. Channing Tatum. Only, you know, with blonde hair, not brown.




Next up is Josh's cousin, the wanna be British, cheerleading superstar, Michelle. Although she's not a mean girl, she's played by one! Rachel McAdams.


And now for A.J. Hughes. I've never seen this guy play anybody BUT jerks. And I, so endearingly, call this actor monkey-face. I don't care if you find him attractive, since his days on O.C., every time I see him, I say MONKEY-FACE. Cam Gigandet:

Finally! I wanted to finish off the Band with the drummer: Bobby Hall, and the bass player, his twin brother: Greg. At first, I made them identical twins. But when the gorgeous Jared Leto wouldn't leave my head for Greg (does anybody else love MSCL??), I knew I just had to make his brother, Shannon, Bobby. And so . . . take about a decade off this pic and make Bobby bald and you have the rest of The Band.