r e l e a s e d/a/t/e

Good things come to those who wait! A cheesy phrase to say but very true in this case. *wink*

Act II will be out mid to late October. I know that's a long wait but I have exams and projects and so much going on in September that I don't want to commit to setting the date for that month as I originally planned to, and letting you guys down.

Offline, I've only gotten two chapters written down of Act II which set the scene for Spring Term and the Damien-drama that will ensue. Nevertheless, I want to pen down a couple more chapters before I start publishing them online so that I have a ready buffer this time and my lovely readers won't have to wait months for an update. Good plan, eh?

Act I (although not stated in the title) has been submitted to be part of #Wattys2016 so I would really appreciate it if you guys could vote, comment and share the story with your friends. Those of you on Twitter could also be so sweet as to nominate it at your People's Choice if you're enjoying the story! All you have to do is tweet, "I nominate The Sparkle Toofus: Act I. #MyWattysChoice"!

Plus, I've already designed a cover in similar fashion to the design of Act I but I would love to come up with more if any of you are interested in contributing your time, and creativity to designing a cover for me. So, any of you interested in cover designs for Act II, shoot me a private message!

Lastly, being the kind soul that I am; here is a teeny tiny teaser of what is to follow. Hopefully, this will keep you guys excited for October!

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t e a s e r

Some things are better left for dreams than for reality. Most of us wile our time away day-dreaming of completely different things from what we are given. Although some might call such behavior nothing but foolishness, I beg to differ. It's merely a break from the scorching monotony of life and to a world that packs a little more...adventure. I wasn't exactly sure, waking up that morning to the dark scarlet overtones of my curtains reflected on the walls if that was what the entirety of last night had been. Nothing more than a dream. That is, until, I felt a warm body shift against my back and mumble a sleepy 'good morning'. Definitely not a dream.

I shut my eyes at once and pretended to be sleeping, making my breaths even despite my raging heart. Last night had been 100% real. Leo spending the night on my bedroom floor was real. Him kissing me...real.

Crud!

I was never trained for waking up to circumstances like these. Sure, I'd often spend my night thinking up ridiculous ideas like how to be prepared for war or a zombie outbreak but this?! Kissing a boy? It had completely slipped my mind!

"May?"

Leo's gruff voice near my ear, his breath on my neck...it did things to me. Like make my heart beat wild inside my chest, feel the blush spreading through my face - all those things I'd see Amy read about in her cheesy, romantic flicks.

Oh, I might just vomit.

A warm hand descended on the crook of my shoulder and I nearly shot up. Steadying my breath, I let out a loud, over-the-top yawn and turned around, pretending to blink sleep away from my eyes.

"Leo," I muttered, sleepy and completely masking the utter chaos reigning my heart. His blonde hair kissed by the rays of the sun was ruffled in the most beautiful way. His sapphire blue eyes seemed hazy as he actually seemed to be fighting sleep as he had rolled himself to his side to look at me, a small smile etched on his lips.

"Morning," he said, the smile widening as did his eyes at the sight of me. "Last night was...something."

"Sure was." I smiled back at him and nothing about my actions was forced this time as I shifted a little closer to Leo who watched my movements, making no action to stop them. "Would never have placed you for a hogger, Leo," I said, smirking up at him and gesturing at the blanket he'd somehow robbed me off midway through the night.

"Oh. Uh. Yeah." Was he blushing? "Why? Are you feeling cold?"

Before I could even answer, Leo looped an arm around my waist and pulled me to his side till we were chest to chest, once again mirroring our position last night. It would be a complete and utter lie to say that I didn't enjoy our closeness but panic was the first thing to set in this time as one thought whirled around my mind in capital letters: the possibility of a little friend called morning breath.

"We should probably go downstairs," I said slowly, like a child trying to spell out the alphabet.

"Is it a compulsion?" Leo smiled down at me. "Or is this you trying to get away from me again?"

"A little both of both," I answered honestly. I could smell the smoke from the kitchen practically seeping right through the floor and into my room. Dad was making a mess of breakfast. He wasn't so good at the cooking front. But really, that was just my excuse to want to get away from this...whatever this was now.

Leo watched me silently as I put up no fight against him to break free from his arms. He watched me, with the same look he had had in his eyes before I dozed off in his arms after a long night of kisses, secret whispers and laughs and a final bid goodnight. And once again, I couldn't help but fall into those fathomless blue depths, surrendering myself to what they held and no longer wanting to question what this was.

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I look forward to seeing you all in Act II! Thank you for making this story what it is today.

- Beatrix <3
+ Makayla
+ Leo
+ Damien
+ Nick