Golden: A Paranormal Romance Read online

  Copyright © 2021 by Ellis Marie

  All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Typewriter Pub, an imprint of Blvnp Incorporated

  A Nevada Corporation

  1887 Whitney Mesa DR #2002

  Henderson, NV 89014

  www.typewriterpub.com/[email protected]

  ISBN: 978-1-64434-166-7

  DISCLAIMER

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While references might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  GOLDEN

  ELLIS MARIE

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  This book is dedicated to every person who has ever blamed themselves for what happened to them and every person who is hiding their pain behind laughter, pretending not to flinch at raised voices.

  The people who were told they weren’t good enough, and the ones who fell through the cracks when no one was looking.

  It’s dedicated to those who love too hard, who try too hard and who fall too hard for the wrong person; who ignore the red flags in the hope that they’re colourblind and the shades are mixed.

  It’s dedicated to those of you who carry a piece of your broken self everyday with your head held high and your hand reaching out for support, no matter how many times the world seems to bite it.

  And to those of you who are just like I was - alone, ashamed and wondering where it all went wrong, getting lost in books every day just longing to find a place of comfort, a home, a true love:

  You are loved. You are beautiful. You are strong.

  And you are worth far more than they have ever made you feel.

  In the words of our leading man, Trent Night :

  I hope you can call this place a home.

  CHAPTER ONE

  There’s something strange about school today.

  I can taste the anticipation on the tip of my tongue, my skin prickling as though I’m allergic to the clothes on my body. People are standing together, eagerly discussing news that seems to spread like wildfire through the halls, and I feel . . . odd. It’s as though something is about to happen, but I can’t figure out what it could be.

  “So have you heard the news?” A scream leaves my mouth as I slam my locker door shut, surprised at the sudden presence beside me. I sigh when I see their charming grin.

  “Sorry, princess. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Standing in front of me is my boyfriend, Matthew Daley. His blue eyes shine with laughter, and I can’t help but smile back; he’s infectious. Even after almost three years together, I’m still in love with him despite the issues that we had. His smile still makes my heart flutter and my stomach twist, like I’m seeing it for the first time.

  His question springs into my mind and my curiosity piques. “What news is that?” I ask, trying to figure out beforehand if I’m meant to have a positive or negative reaction to the news.

  Just breathe, Elle.

  “East Bay High School got burnt down last night. Not a single piece of the building is left.”

  My mind whirls at the news.

  How did it happen? Is anyone hurt? Was it done on purpose?

  “That’s not even the shocking part,” Matt interrupts, pausing my thoughts for a moment. “They’re sending the students at that school here. We’re going to be cohabiting.”

  He’s right; the news is shocking.

  I’m not exactly sure when the issues between Northern Valley Woods and East Bay began, or why, but whatever it was, it must have been huge because, for as long as I could remember, there has never been a friendship between the two schools. In fact, there isn’t any contact at all.

  With anyone.

  East Bay is on the other side of the forest that surrounds our little town of Northern Valley Woods. It’s an extremely dense forest that seems to go on for miles if you go in it, although no one ever does. We are banned from a large section of it by our council after a number of disappearances about thirty years prior, and the section we aren’t banned from is near the school and only gets used for seniors feeling wild enough to have an outdoor party, but even then, no one ever went too far in.

  The people from the town are hardly ever seen, and I don’t know a single person who knew of anyone from there, let alone the high school.

  Or if anyone did, they never admitted it.

  There were rumours made up about the town saying that the people in it were crazy and that if you went in, you would never return.

  Obviously, I don’t believe it . . . completely.

  I find it strange that they have no connection with us, considering they are so close. Our games against rival schools were attended by almost our entire town, and some of the teams we played against travelled over even though they are two hours away.

  But East Bay? Nothing. We don’t even know if they have a team.

  “Is the whole school coming here?” I ask Matt, keeping my voice steady.

  He nods. “We’re the closest, and they couldn’t afford to provide transport all the way out to the other schools, plus our principal and theirs apparently know each other or something.” He pauses, looking around the already filling hallway. “It’s going to get crazy, that’s for sure. They’ve already started turning the spare gym hall into a makeshift classroom. Freshmen and sophomores are having to share lockers so that the new seniors have ones available.”

  I’m relieved that I won’t have to give up the locker that I’ve had for the past three years. It would be heartbreaking.

  I had my first kiss in front of it!

  I do feel bad for the freshmen that are cramming their massive backpacks on top of others with their pristine books spilling out on to the floor. I would probably just give up and carry mine about all day.

  “When are they coming?” I turn back to Matt after watching some poor boy chasing a getaway pencil down the hall with his polite cries of ‘excuse me’ echoing after him.

  “Tomorrow.”

  Ignoring the questions I have, my thoughts run over everything
he’s said. I figure that a nonchalant response with a hint of annoyance is the way to go. My eyes meet Matt’s and I shrug. “Well, it’s going to be odd, but it won’t make a difference to me.” His brows furrow slightly. “You’re the only thing I care about. I couldn’t care who was coming to school as long as they don’t annoy us.”

  I hope he doesn’t notice the hastiness in which I add the second part. As his eyes light up and he snakes his arm around my waist, I know I’ve satisfied him, and the situation isn’t going to create any issues.

  “That’s my girl.” His words make my breath catch as he leans in to kiss me. I melt, basking in the presence of man I love as his gentle fingers hold me to him.

  Perfect.

  As I take a step back, I realise I can’t, and he tightens his grip. I look up at him, widening my eyes at the familiar glint in his sea-blue gaze, the waves within it becoming volatile and dangerous.

  “Just remember you are my girl, Anna, and you better not forget that tomorrow. Do not make a bad first impression.”

  I barely register his lips pressing against mine again. I’m too busy trying to slow down my heartbeat and hide his effect on me. I can’t let him see it. I’m not allowed to show anything other than confidence and perfection.

  He says goodbye to me along with something about seeing me at lunch and then his blond hair disappears into the crowd of bustling students. I can finally breathe again. The air rushes into my lungs as I quickly open my locker door, hiding behind the metal in the hopes of no one noticing my shaken form.

  I allow myself thirty seconds to break the façade, but I don’t let the tears fall from my eyes. I can’t afford to mess up any bit of my makeup. My fingernails dig into the palms of my hands. The pain gives me something to focus on, allowing my mind to empty itself of Matt’s words and the threat they hold. After the thirty seconds are up, I look straight into the mirror hanging from my locker door and smooth down my hair before applying a fresh coat of lipstick.

  Perfect.

  I smile at the girl in the mirror. She smiles back with no signs of trauma flicking onto her face. It gives me assurance that I can keep going; I am strong enough.

  Annabelle Williams is a fighter.

  I sling my bag onto my shoulder, shutting my locker at the same time before starting my walk to class. As I pass people, they smile and greet me. Their eyes are wide with excitement, and it makes me happy to know that people think positively of me. As I am dating Matt, I am deemed one half of our school’s ‘Golden Couple.’ The description is accurate considering we both have shining blonde hair.

  Matt is the captain of the football team at our school. We began dating the summer before sophomore year. A high-school-sweethearts relationship if there ever was one. It’s completely cliché but I embrace it. As long as I’m known for something good, then I’m not going to complain. Our image is everything to me and to him too. If it would be damaged, then he will have nothing, and neither will I.

  I enter my classroom while saying hello to our teacher before taking my usual seat beside the window as I immediately look outside. I watch as a group of boys walk through the front gates, throwing their bags at each other as they do. One of them hits a branch of the large oak tree that welcomes us into our school. A flock of blackbirds emerge from the leaves, their panic evident as they fly while trying to cope with the disturbance.

  My thoughts drift to tomorrow. There’s an uneasy feeling in my stomach, and I can’t help but wonder if I would still be the same. If, like those birds, I would panic at the sudden change in my surroundings, if I would even be able to make sense of it all. I force myself to look away from the scene, trying not to overthink it.

  I mean, will there really be that much change?

  Without realizing it, I’ve chewed off the nail varnish on the end of one finger. I scramble to find the small pot of colour in my bag. Maybe the task wouldn’t feel so impossible if I didn’t have so much junk lying at the bottom of it, but finally, I feel my fingers close around the tiny plastic lid.

  “You’re one of those girls that give us a bad name. That bag is a mess.”

  I roll my eyes at the voice above me and stick my tongue out in response, my worries already ebbing away.

  “I’m serious, Elle. You may be my best friend but the disorder in there gives me severe anxiety.”

  Kristie Kennedy has been my best friend since the fifth grade after we bonded over being the only two people who didn’t want to go outside during break time because a new Harry Potter book had been released and neither of us could put it down. Despite the teacher giving us extra homework, it was definitely worth it. Not only did I get to read my book but I got a best friend too. We haven’t left each other’s side since.

  Where I have long blonde hair, Kristie has short, above-the-shoulder-length brunette hair. Her eyes match in colour, and looking into them makes you feel like you’re drinking a warm cup of tea—comforting and just what you need to make you smile.

  Or at least what I needed . . . quite often.

  “Let me live,” I whine, applying the pink nail varnish to my damaged nail. “Stop trying to change me.”

  She takes her seat beside me while laughing. “I think we both know who tries to do that, and it’s certainly not me. I mean, are we going to talk about your clothing?”

  Her words sting but I brush them off, knowing she means no harm.

  It’s not as if she’s lying about anything. My outfit isn’t exactly my first choice. The dress I’m wearing is so tight that it feels like a second skin. It shows off my curves much more than I would like, especially in school, let alone any other day, but Matt chose the dress. I hated to disappoint him. The heeled boots are one of the more comfortable pairs I owned so, at least, I’m not in pain, and they were awfully cute, which is a plus.

  “So are you excited for tomorrow? New people! Hot boys!” Kristie’s eyes are wide, and her mouth is turned up into an exaggerated smile.

  I stay silent.

  “Hello! Elle! I’m waiting for an enthusiastic response here.”

  I sigh, looking at her in exasperation. “Why would I be happy about that when I’m not allowed to talk to any men without Matt’s authority?”

  Kristie flinches at my response, sinking further into her seat as she loses her excitement and realising that I’m right.

  “Besides . . .” I shrug, trying to lighten the mood. “We don’t know what the town is like. For all we know, they could all be crazy savages that don’t speak our language and eat bugs for breakfast.”

  “Yeah.” She snorts, her grin spreading. “Or they could also be super hot single guys that haven’t seen a hot girl before, and I’m going to welcome them to the world of the living with wide, wide, wide open . . . arms.”

  Our laughter is stopped by Mrs. Green as she brings the class to attention, starting the lesson off right away. I fall into the world of history, letting stories of ancient kings take me away on their noble steeds instead of worrying about what might happen tomorrow.

  After class, I walk to the cafeteria with Kristie with our arms intertwined as we chat about summer and what we’ve been up to. Well, I say we both talk, but it’s mostly Kristie. Her out-of-school activities are much more exciting than mine.

  “All in all, I’m just excited to not be stuck in the house with my little brother.” Kristie sighs dramatically. “Plus, it’s only a week or two and then Cameron is back, and we can all be reunited!”

  I squeal in response as our conversation changes to our absent best friend and the jealousy we feel over the holiday that his mother had taken him on. Cam has been best friends with me almost as long as Kristie. Growing up, it was rare to ever see us apart. Although I don’t get to spend as much time with him as I would like anymore, we are still as close as ever.

  Our conversation continues until we walk through the large red doors of the cafeteria, and that’s when we pause.

  Kristie knows the rules; Matt always comes first.

  S
o even though I want to go and sit with her and our friends, I have to sit on the other side of the room where I can see our school colours shining from the uniforms of sports teams.

  I turn to Kristie with an apologetic smile, getting nothing back but sympathy, which makes bile come up in the back of my throat.

  “Well . . . I’ll see you later?” The words manage to squeeze out from between my lips, and she nods before turning away with shouts and conversation greeting her as she sits down.

  On the other hand, when I arrive at my table, I’m greeted with mild hellos and the sight of someone sitting on my boyfriend’s lap.

  Annoyance simmers in my stomach and I clear my throat. “Excuse me, Tracey?” She whips her head around and everyone stares at me. “Do you not have a seat you could occupy instead of my boyfriend’s lap?”

  Laughter follows, and I send her a sickly-sweet smile, not wanting anyone to think I’m even fazed. She rolls her eyes prominently and pouts, hopping away from Matt’s lap. He gives me a shrug as though it’s an explanation, motioning for me to fill the space that she has just left. I grit my teeth and lower myself as Matt’s arm automatically slides around my waist, bringing my body against his.

  “I don’t like it when she does that,” I mumble. Matt squeezes me in response with a slight smile on his lips.

  “I know, princess, and you’re very sexy when you’re jealous.”

  I giggle as he plants his lips on my neck, working their way to my ear. The rest of the table doesn’t seem to notice us, even if they did, I doubt they would say anything. No one ever goes against Matt.

  I can feel the change of atmosphere before the whisper even leaves his lips, the breath on my ear hot but a chill crawls its way down my spine.

  “But if you ever talk like that again in front of me, you’re going to wish you hadn’t.”

  My fingers go numb as he slowly pulls his head out from the crook of my neck. I can’t do anything but stare as his finger trails down my cheek.

  “Now, be a good girl and get me my lunch, yeah?”

  My chin is in his hold, and I feel him guide my head into a nodding motion while my body is still frozen in fear. He winks at me before bumping me off his legs and I stumble to my feet. As I turn to walk away, wanting to be out of the crowd of people as soon as possible, there’s a sting on my butt, and I realise that Matt just spanked me in front of everyone.