GUTTER GIRL

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

McKenna

"Oh, I thought this was Jace's." Joel's face turned deep red. 

"It's obviously not," I snapped, wiggling the fingers of the hand I was still holding out toward him. Even though I had no understanding of why I was saving Jace's ass, it was fun sticking it to Joel right now. He was an epic level of jerk, like he was compensating for the fact that he rode the bench on the football team. Like he had to be extra good at jerkiness or something.

He looked at me and then back at Jace before handing over the notebook.

I could only imagine what was going through Jace's mind. I'd always had a soft spot for him, but this surprised even me. I couldn't let him get crucified for this. It just wasn't right.

Carlin Summers, a sophomore with bright blond, almost white hair and bold, sea-green eyes, gasped. "You're WriteEmHard?"

Oh shit. Even people here were obsessed with his sword story?

"Wait, what?" Victoria Knight said from behind me.

Blood rushed to my cheeks. The awe brightening Victoria's brown eyes sent a shock wave through my body. What had I done? If people recognized Jace's story with only a few lines read, that meant... Shit. I'd just completely stepped out from the world of invisibility, hadn't I?

"You're like, totally my favorite writer," Carlin's friend blurted out. "I love Kingdom of Swords!"

"Dude, that's freaking epic," Victoria added. "Mia, did you hear that? McKenna is the author of KOS!"

My mouth went dry. Holy crap... I'd read about two pages of what Jace had written in his notebook and thought it was kinda dorky, but then again, I didn't have much time to read anything other than what classes required. But the way these two girls looked at me... Yeah, I should have thought through this whole saving-Jace's-butt thing.

Carlin nodded but fell silent, like she was frozen at the sight of me or something. Sadie swooped in behind Carlin. "Is that a KOS notebook? Like, can I see it? Does it say what's happening to Prince Jarren next? I really hope so. I hope he and—"

"Sadie," Carlin said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Down, girl."

Sadie laughed, then nodded. "Oh, sorry. It's ah, well... holy shit. WriteEmHard goes to Twin freaking River High! How is this even possible?" Her voice cracked as she squealed, and then she jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go." I tucked the notebook under my arm and wiped my sweaty palms on my pants. I needed to get out of here. Adrenaline started coursing through my veins. My fight-or-flight reflex had officially kicked in with everyone all up in my bubble.

Jace shot me a quick look. Thank you, he mouthed.

His cheeks were flushed and his jaw clenched tight. I gave him a quick nod and he visibly relaxed, slouching where he stood. Holy cow, he really didn't want anyone to know, huh?