by Mia Hoddell
Pausing outside of the director’s office, Kayleigh took a deep breath.
“Kayleigh, I’m sorry, I just lost my temper for a second. It’ll never happen again,” Adam said, somehow having become even paler.
“Shut it.” Aiden shook him, reminding him of his presence.
Kayleigh turned to face them both, her gaze meeting Aiden’s. “Would you mind if I do this on my own?” She could see the refusal on his lips, but something in her eyes stopped him. She’d hardened her stare, trying to appear less shaken up than she felt.
He nodded once. “I’ll go, but Adam, if you move from this spot or I find out you have even looked at Kayleigh in the wrong way, it won’t be just me you’ll face next time. Got it?”
Adam didn’t reply.
“Have. You. Got it?” Aiden repeated, his voice had raised, but he still sounded in control, punctuating every word clearly.
Adam nodded reluctantly and Aiden released his wrists. Moving over to Kayleigh, he cupped her face, tilting and turning it from side to side. The anger was back in his eyes when he saw what must have been the mark Adam had left. “I don’t like this, Kay,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Trust me, I know what I’m doing.” She tried to smile, but he didn’t return it. His thumb rubbed over her cheek lightly.
“I’ll get you some ice while I wait.” He dropped his hands and left them with a final glare at Adam. Instantly, Kayleigh turned and opened the door to the office, not giving herself the chance to lose her nerve.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Aiden was going crazy, his frustration not worked off by the frantic pacing as he waited for Kayleigh to emerge from the room. He knew her way was right, but God he wanted to punch the bastard. Seeing the red handprint on her delicate, porcelain skin made his blood boil … even thinking about it made him want to hit something. He regretted having not gotten there sooner, but was also grateful he’d stepped in when he had, not wanting to even consider how far Adam would have taken things if he hadn’t. Having noticed Kayleigh hadn’t reappeared after changing, he’d gone looking for her and the shadow in the alcove near the exit to the dressing room caught his attention. When he heard the crack, he charged like a raging bull. Adam had come into focus as he got closer, and when he saw Kayleigh trapped anger consumed him. It had taken every ounce of control to pull him off rather than pummel him. The only reason he didn’t was Kayleigh.
His pacing stopped instantly when he heard the door shut. His head snapped up and suddenly Kayleigh was in his arms. She buried her face in his shirt, squeezing him tightly before loosening her hold slightly.
“Are you okay?” His hand reached under her chin, pulling her head up to look at him. It hadn’t taken him long to realise that despite her acting ability, there was always a slight clue in her eyes that let on to how she was feeling.
“I’ll be fine, it’s being handled. I just need a few minutes. I don’t think what’s happened has hit me yet.”
Aiden flinched at her choice of words but didn’t comment on them. “What happened then?”
“I’ll tell you in a bit. First I need to let everyone in there know what’s going on seeing as I’m president now.” She nodded her head in the direction of the room, but she didn’t seem pleased by the thought. Rather than say anything, though, he pulled her against his side for comfort and opened the door. He was just waiting for her to fall apart on him at any second.
Striding into the room, all attention was suddenly focused on her, and like normal, she wished they’d stop. Their gazes were full of concern and intrigue, and she hated that the thoughts were easy to read on their faces, especially pity. She recoiled into Aiden slightly and he gave her a squeeze of encouragement. He wasn’t leaving her side, she could feel it, and that thought dispelled the anxiety. “Gather round everyone, I have some news.” Kayleigh didn’t need to shout, the room was already silent. In a flurry of motion, people converged on her and surrounded them.
“You should all know that Adam is no longer president and he will not be attending any more drama related events or classes. As you’re probably all aware, he’s been trying to beat me in the election that’s coming up, but he’s also been trying to intimidate me into dropping out. Moments ago, he actually hit me while threatening me. I didn’t want to stoop to his level, so I’ve spent the last half an hour with Director Clayton. He is still dealing with Adam, but he also nominated me to take over the presidency.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd, but Kayleigh refused to divulge all that had been said. The cast only needed to know the basics.
“So, with that said, everyone take a break and we’ll regroup to start this dress rehearsal in half an hour.” Kayleigh let the sea of bodies flow around them and drift out the room. When the last person had gone, she collapsed against Aiden whose arm had never moved.
“I didn’t want to win like this. I wanted to beat him fairly, not get handed it.” That was the thing annoying her most: that Adam had robbed her of the chance to beat him. She had felt reassured by Director Clayton that she was safe and Adam wouldn’t get to her, so because the sting of her cheek had faded, it only left her with anger.
“It doesn’t matter how you got it, Kayleigh. You won fairly. You didn’t rise to his games, and you would have won either way. The fact that he took it to extremes only means he ruined his chances.”
“I know … but it’s still a sour victory.”
Aiden brushed the back of his hand against her cheek, lightly cupping her jaw as he reached the base of her face. His eyes held hers a second longer than normal, clear with intent. “A win’s a win, and you’ve won more than just an election.”
“Why, what else did I win?” Her eyes remained focused on his lips, hers parting slightly as she got him to voice what she knew he was thinking.
“Me.” His mouth closed over hers and Kayleigh laughed against him. She felt the corners of his lips turning up as they brushed gently against her, and she kissed him back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
It was performance day and nerves were running high backstage. There was a flurry of activity as everyone tried to get themselves ready, searched for costumes, and moaned about being sick. It didn’t matter how many times they starred in a show, the nerves were always there. In fact, Kayleigh liked the feeling; it was an adrenaline rush that mirrored the effects of a rollercoaster. As soon as the lights went up, she was no longer Kayleigh Barrow. For that hour she was whoever she had wanted to play, no troubles existed, and she was lost in a fairy tale. She didn’t even notice the audience, just performed her heart out and enjoyed the thrill.
“Is it always like this?” Aiden asked, coming to sit next to her in front of the mirror.
“What? Busy? Yeah, it doesn’t matter how much we prepare, backstage always turns into chaos. Why?”
“No, I meant is it normal I feel like I want to throw up? I saw the audience, and all of my team’s out there, and my parents!” He was panicking, and it took all of Kayleigh’s power not to laugh. She didn’t mean it horribly, but it was nice to see him flustered; it was a side to him she’d never seen before and she doubted he showed it to many.
“You’ll be fine, Aiden. I swear you won’t even notice them. There’s a reason the lights are so bright, you know.”
“Really?”
This time Ellie did laugh. “No, but it does help. You won’t notice them, promise.”
“But I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’ve never felt this ... not even when winning a match relies on me kicking a ball straight.”
Rising, she moved to stand behind him, peering over his shoulder while her hands trailed down over his chest. She looked at them both in the mirror.
“Five minutes until curtain!” Faye shouted, but Kayleigh ignored her, used to the pressure.
“Ignore it,” she whispered into his ear. In that second, all of the noise disappeared, all of her thoughts were pushed from her mind; it was just her and Aiden. His hands moved up to hold hers.
“What should I do then? Imagine people naked?”
Kayleigh smiled and kissed his neck. “No, that almost never works. It normally makes the actor laugh.”
Aiden’s face fell and she spun him around, moving to stand between his legs. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she looked him straight in the eye. “There isn’t anything you can do. It gets easier with practice, but for now you have to trust that you’ve rehearsed enough and have faith that you have memorised your lines.”
“Right ... Remind me to kill Justin when this is over. I’m now figuring out auditioning was the easy part.”
Kayleigh laughed. “You’ll be fine. And I’ll be right there next to you, I won’t let you embarrass yourself.”
He stood up, forcing her to take a step back and her arms to stretch out since they’d stayed locked around his neck. “So I’ll protect you from paranormal creatures and you’ll protect me from the audience. Sound fair?”
“Yeah, that sounds fair. As long as you don’t drop me.” Reaching up her, lips met his gently so as not to ruin her costume or make-up.
“Don’t worry, you’re safe with me,” he murmured against her lips. The kiss was tender but brief as they were interrupted by the stage manager shouting for everyone to get into positions.
“Ready?” Kayleigh asked, pulling away and taking his hand. They walked out on to the stage to take up their starting positions.
“Nowhere near ready, but I trust you.” He glanced across at her, taking in the full length of her costume. “You look gorgeous by the way.”
Kayleigh only had time to smile before the music began to fade out and the ivy curtain lifted. For the first time, she didn’t feel like she had to pretend she was in a fantasy world. Of course she acted her heart out, but Kayleigh was too excited to get back to the real world where her own knight in shining armour was.
THE END
Enjoy Spring Knight? Why not check out the first three books in the Seasons of Change series?
Summer Demons
Winter Angel
Autumn Ghosts
or check out the Seasons of Change Box Set that includes all four novellas and two exclusive bonus stories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading, loves anything paranormal and has an overactive imagination that keeps her up until the early hours of the morning.
With three poems published before the age of sixteen, Mia moved on to short stories but finding she had too much to tell with too little space, Mia progressed to novels. She started her first series (The Wanderer Trilogy) at the age of fourteen and since then hasn’t stopped writing. Elemental Killers is her second series and with an ever growing list of ideas, Mia is trying to keep up with the speed at which her imagination generates them.
For more information on Mia, her work, giveaways, and more visit her blog: http://miahoddell.blogspot.com
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OTHER BOOKS
The Wanderer Trilogy
The Sheol
The Flawless
The Hunted
Elemental Killers
Deadly to Love
Deadly to Promise
Deadly to Lie
Deadly to Leave
Novellas
Seasons of Change (standalone)
Summer Demons
Winter Angel
Autumn Ghosts
Spring Knight
Seasons of Change Short Stories
Summer Revenge
Seasons of Love
All books are available in ebook format from: Amazon Kindle
Paperbacks are available from Amazon: HERE
AUTUMN GHOSTS
Seasons of Change Standalone #3
Keep reading for an excerpt from Ellie's story.
CHAPTER ONE
They were everywhere. The flaming oranges and reds surrounded her in a fiery circle. Dancing in the gusts of wind, which hit her face as she sat there, they flickered violently. The colours blanketed the ground, some of the hues fading as they merged into brown. There was no heat felt from them, though. Drying out under the canopy, the leaves rustled as a few were swept along the ground. When she looked up at the sky, it was also consumed by the burning colours. All signs of blue were obstructed by the fresh leaves; they clung to their branches, refusing to fall and signal the end of autumn. Ellie usually found this time of year relaxing, as she used to love watching the trees change colour before slowly shedding their leaves. However, this year she dreaded it. The reds of the Acers and oranges of the few Maples signalled her final warning. The colours also mirrored her frustration and anger at herself and the book resting on her lap. Its white pages—marred with black scribbles—fluttered, making the words difficult to read. It wasn’t like she needed the distraction; Ellie was finding it hard enough to concentrate on the confusing calculations already.
Ellie groaned when she turned the page, only to be faced with another list of test questions. Bringing her hands up to her face, she hung her head with a heavy sigh. She just barely held back the sob building in her throat as she sucked in a deep breath, the crisp air freezing her mind with every inhale. I can do this. I know I can, she thought, trying to convince herself of the fact she knew not to be true.
When she lifted her head again, blinking back the tears so she could focus, Ellie began scribbling next to the question. Trying to apply everything she had learnt in class, she moved the numbers around and attempted to make sense of the problem in front of her. At first she thought she was getting the hang of it. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, pleased with her progress, but soon it faltered and fell from her face. Having gone round in circles, Ellie was back where she started: staring at the calculation and unable to find a solution.
Frustrated, she leaned back against the tree stump, her head colliding with the wood harder than she meant it to. A slight pain radiated out from the impact and spread across her head, but she ignored it. Closing her eyes, she let the cool breeze flow over her as she focused on calming her stress levels.
It was hopeless.
When she opened her eyes and looked down at the textbook, she saw a single crimson leaf had floated on to the pages. Its colour glared at her, a physical warning of how little time she had left, mocking her by falling from its branch and taunting her with an ever closer deadline. Picking up the leaf, Ellie threw it to the ground. However, not satisfied with the distance or force as it twirled gently before settling, Ellie snapped her textbook shut. The sharp crack rang out in the empty area, and was quickly followed by a loud bang and rustle when she hurled the book at the nearest tree. She watched as it fell open, its pages flipping by before it closed again.
Then, bolting upright, Ellie remembered where she was. The deadened silence made guilt rise in her chest; she’d disrupted the eternal peace of those resting around her.
“I’m sorry, Gran. I didn’t mean to lose my temper.” Sighing, she glanced over at the shiny, black granite plaque that marked the beloved family member’s grave.
“It’s just so hard without you. No one gets it like you did, and I’m slipping behind everyone in my class.” When Ellie spoke, she directed her words at the plaque even though she knew she would get no response.
“I’m trying my hardest, but it doesn’t seem to be good enough. I’m not going to pass this exam if I continue the way I am. I don’t want to disappoint you.” Ellie had whispered the last line. In her mind, speaking it loudly would make it all the more real. She didn’t want to live with knowing her gran would be disappointed in her. Out of everyone in her family, she was the only one who had understood Ellie’s problems enough to help her. Her parents were too busy to offer their assistance and believed it was above them. They’d forced her to study accounting, but thought she should struggle through on her own. Hav
ing only ever skied, her brother didn’t know anything about the subject, either. Therefore, all subject related matters were left for her gran to deal with. She had made the subject easy … or at least manageable. Now even the simplest of calculations confused Ellie.
At first people had blamed the slip of her grades on the grief of losing someone so close, but after six months, the excuse was no longer effective. People were now questioning her ability. Ellie knew they were right, and that she’d only been passing before because of the extra sessions she put in with her grandmother.
“Why did I take this subject, Gran? It’s not like it’ll be any use to me, I’m not cut out for accounting like Mum and Dad. I should have done what Luke did …” Ellie trailed off, her thoughts captured by picturing what her gran would have said had she really been there listening.
It’s just one problem, Ellie. Move on and come back to it. You have the ability, it’s just taking you a bit longer to understand. You’ll get there in the end, and we’ll all watch you graduating next year. At least one Jeffords needs to finish uni, and seeing as your brother is back to skiing, I can’t see it’ll be him.
At the memory of what her gran would have told her, a sad smile—which didn’t reach her eyes—teased her lips, trying to lighten the mood. Unfortunately, as a lone tear fell from the corner of her eye, she realised it wasn’t true. Even if she graduated—something that looked highly unlikely—the one person she wanted to be there wouldn’t be. She hated the pressure she was under. No one had asked her what she wanted, she’d just had to fall in line, unlike her brother. It was the one downside to being a twin: there was no one older to relieve the pressure for the younger sibling. Luke started his career early, and that meant it was up to Ellie to follow the family’s wishes.