Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 746(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“Shall we change our plans?” Yuri asked as they came to a stop in front of the steel gates of their club’s headquarters.
After a moment, Helios replied, “No. I don’t want to act preemptively and risk bringing a war into our territory.”
Kellion raised a brow. “We continue pretending then?”
A green light flashed above the gate just before it slowly rolled up. The girls started to scream. The day they had long been waiting for had finally arrived – a chance to be a part of Afxisi, even if it meant year-long servitude.
All the girls cared about was being part of a club that the American media had adoringly dubbed as Heart Racers, mostly because the club’s real name was impossible to pronounce. All they saw were college heartthrobs with big bikes and even bigger bank accounts.
None of them saw the truth. None of them saw past the good looks, the wealth, and the exciting and sometimes dangerous lifestyles the club’s members were known for.
And that was exactly how the club wanted it.
Helios answered Kellion’s question simply by turning around to face the crowd, a cold smile touching his lips. “Let the auditions begin.”
MJ CARTWRIGHT BURST out of the school building’s back doors with a gasp. Checking her watch, she saw that she still had about ten minutes before club auditions officially started. She was not much of a runner. Death-defying stunts were more her forte. But stuff that were more a test of stamina than strength? She was a total loser at it. Back when she was in high school, MJ would watch the cheerleading squad run laps around the football field in their teensy weensy uniforms without breaking a sweat. She had once tried to do the same and nearly expired from heat stroke and dehydration after just five minutes.
She had never tried to run after that, but today she was going to make an exception. She had been at the dean’s office, waiting for her class schedule to be printed out, when she heard girls talking about Club Day. It was going to be a bloodbath, the girls had said. That one clinched it for her. MJ snuck out five minutes before her first class officially ended, determined to be one of the early birds for the audition.
By the time MJ spied the distinct red roof of the club’s headquarters, she was busy trying to catch her breath. Just a few more feet, she told herself. She would make it.
Or so she thought, until she realized that the club’s automated steel gate had started to lower.
“WAIT!” MJ ran as fast as she could and found herself bending back almost to her waist to slide past the gate. Behind her, the gate slammed down hard on the ground just as she skidded to a stop, landing on her knees like Michael Jackson finishing one of his dance moves.
Sheer relief had her eyes falling close even as someone started clapping his hands.
When she opened her eyes, MJ expected to see sneering girls who probably thought she was being too full of herself, applying for a spot in the university’s most popular club.
But what she saw was worse.
There were no girls, no bloodbath, no anything.
All she saw were three pairs of eyes looking down at her, and one of them belonged to him.
My name is MJ Cartwright. I’ve been wanting to meet you for two long years. You wouldn’t believe what I had to do just to be here, studying in the same school, just so I could be near you. But seeing you – just seeing you has made everything worth it.
That was what she had intended to say to the man whose face she had memorized, the man whose every photo on the Internet she had saved in her hard drive and backed up in Dropbox.
Meeting Helios Andreadis was a distant hope she had desperately clung to when she had nothing to hope for. This moment was all she had lived for, and in her dreams, serendipity would work its magic on the two of them. Their gazes would meet, their hearts would speak, and it would be a happy-ever-after.
But in reality...
“Ahh...gaaah...errr...uuurgh...”
At the garble that came out of her mouth, Helios Andreadis raised one eyebrow, an odd look on his gorgeous face. That look didn’t say, ‘Who’s this beautiful girl?’ No, that look on his heartbreakingly perfect face meant something more like ‘Should I call the police before this creature attacks me?’
Inside her mind, MJ knelt down and prayed.
Dear God. Can’t you be like Morgan Freeman this once and rewind my life? I just want to start all over again and let him know I at least speak English. Please?
Chapter Two
AS THE SILENCE INSIDE the room lengthened, Helios found his friends slowly turning to him in askance. Kellion’s eyes were gleaming with amusement. Yuri’s face was inscrutable. But it was obvious both were of the same mind. He was the president. It was up to him to decide what to do.