Silent Flames, Forbidden Paths
Alina Hart, a sharp-tongued high school senior, hides behind sarcasm and wit to mask the pain of fractured family life. Shipped off to a prestigious boarding school by a father who no longer sees her, Alina struggles to find her place in a world of strict rules and academic expectations.
Enter Professor Cristiano Wright, a 27-year-old literature teacher whose calm demeanor and sharp intellect make him both an enigma and a fascination. Tasked by Alina’s older brother Ethan to keep an eye on her, Wright finds himself drawn to the complexity beneath her rebellious exterior.
In the backdrop of Shakespearean sonnets and Romantic poetry, Alina and Wright navigate an increasingly fraught connection. What begins as reluctant mentorship soon transforms into a tangled web of forbidden emotions, unspoken words, and an undeniable pull that neither can ignore.
Set against the bustling corridors of an urban high school and the quiet corners of a library filled with unspoken confessions, Silent Flames, Forbidden Paths explores the fine line between admiration and desire, duty and vulnerability. As Alina and Wright grapple with their feelings, they must confront their moral boundaries and the cost of their choices.
Can they maintain the lines they’ve drawn, or will their emotions blur them beyond recognition?
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Chapter: Another Day, Another DisasterMy day started with the sound of my alarm sounding like a bomb going off, yanking me out of the wonderful, dream-filled oblivion I had been desperately holding to.I rolled out of the bed, tripping over my own feet as if my body had already decided it was too tired for this whole “waking up” thing.Once I at last dragged myself to school, surprise test day hit me like the mother of all surprises. Apparently, the world had decided that my life needed a little more anarchy, and what better way to start things than by throwing an exam at me when I could hardly remember my own name?I should’ve known it was going to be a disaster when the only thing I had for breakfast was a half-eaten bag of chips I found in my backpack.Well, here I am. Sitting at my desk like a poor soul waiting to be sacrificed to the cruel gods of standardized testing.Today’s test was supposed to be one of those life-or-death moments, you know?The kind of moment where you feel like you’re either going to pass and f
Last Updated: 2025-01-09
Chapter: Secrets, Distractions, and Unspoken TensionIt’s been exactly 2 days since the “don’t underestimate yourself” bomb dropped, and I’m still trying to figure out if I’m upset or just mildly ashamed.Honestly, I’d prefer to be angry, but something about the way Mr. Wright stated it made me feel like I’d just been seen—like I wasn’t the funny, sarcastic, rebellious girl I’ve carefully crafted. I was the girl underneath all of that, and I don’t know how I feel about that version of myself.I slouched back in my chair, the edges of my textbook blurring as my mind wandered where it shouldn’t. Once upon a time—okay, maybe last year—I was the Alina Hart. Top of my class. Captain of the track team. Teachers’ favorite. Parents’ pride.Now?I’m just... here.A “troublemaker.” A “distraction.” A problem to be fixed.Somewhere along the way, I stopped being the golden girl and started being the complication nobody wanted to deal with. You know how fairy tales have princesses? Yeah, that’s not me anymore. I’m the dragon now. The fire-breathing
Last Updated: 2025-01-08
Chapter: The First MeetingI hate how much space he’s taken up in my brain. He’s like the unwanted roommate who just moved in, and now I’m stuck with him squatting in my head.He’s settled in comfortably, more like too much comfortably, like he’s paying rent for a penthouse, though no one actually asked him to. And let’s be real—I didn’t give him the key, either.It didn’t help that it was Saturday. Saturdays should come with a universal pass for being a lazy couch potato, binge-watching Netflix and pretending school doesn’t exist.Instead, I was stuck in a never-ending loop of overthinking. My brain was running in circles, replaying every embarrassing moment that led me to this point. Seriously, if there was a way to file for mental bankruptcy, I’d be first in line.I could’ve been napping. Or, you know, pretending to be productive. But no, instead I was trapped in my head, circling like a vulture waiting for my next mistake. And honestly?I didn’t even want to think about Mr. Wright. I wanted to think about l
Last Updated: 2025-01-07
Chapter: What had I done to deserve Wright’s attention?Lying on my rough hostel bed, I looked up at the ceiling and tried to interpret the chipped-paint Morse code’s mysterious messages. Sadly, all it said was an existential dread of a girl being unwillingly “cared for.” Ugh.Ethan’s voice still rang in my head from that day in the coffee shop.“I need you to look out for her, Chris. Treat her like your own.”First off all, I wasn’t an abandoned puppy in need of adoption.Secondly, what did that even mean? Like his own what? Sister? daughter? Responsibility? The ambiguity alone was enough to make my skin itch.And then there was Wright—or should I say Mr. Wright—who sat there, sipping his coffee with that maddeningly poised face. The kind of look that screamed, Don’t worry, I’ve got this under control, while simultaneously exuding But do I, though?He’d agreed so quickly, like the thought of taking on a bratty, sarcastic teenager was his idea of entertainment.Why?The ceiling offered no answers, only the faint outline of a water stain sh
Last Updated: 2025-01-06
Chapter: What did I just get myself into?The coffee shop smelled like roasted dreams and charred realities—a fitting backdrop for my developing sense of gloom. Sitting at a small table across from Mr. Wright and my excessively exuberant brother Ethan, I grabbed my cup like it was the only thing tying me to this world. It was ceramic, warm, and not judging me—unlike my current company.Ethan, in his usual cheerful and oblivious manner, was talking a mile a minute. His enthusiasm was practically bouncing off the walls. “Man, it’s so good to see you again, Chris! Can I still call you that, or are you all formal ‘Mr. Wright’ now?”Mr. Wright—sorry, Chris, as Ethan insisted—leaned back in his chair, laughing. It was an easy, friendly laugh that made me wonder if he ever laughed that way during class. I wouldn’t know. The most I’d gotten from him was a polite “good job” when I accidentally solved a problem on the board.“You can call me Chris, of course,” he said. “I don’t think I could ever take ‘Mr. Wright’ seriously coming from
Last Updated: 2025-01-04
Chapter: My Fucked Up Family I could not describe the hostel as home, but for the time being, it was. The distinct scents of instant noodles and strawberry body spray greeted me like a one-two punch as soon as I walked into the room that I shared with Mia.There she was, sprawled on her bed with her headphones on, bopping her head to music that I could only guess was some hyper-pop nightmare.Our room was a “cozy” 10-by-12 box with two twin beds, a shared desk that wobbled if you so much as breathed on it, and a wardrobe that we had diplomatically divided right down the middle (though Mia’s side was constantly trying to invade mine).Above her bed was a collage of polaroids, fairy lights, and motivational quotes like “You got this!” and “Dream big!”—which, quite frankly, made me want to hurl.My side was... let’s call it minimalist. A plain white blanket, a pile of unread books, and a single framed picture of my mom from before everything fell apart. No frills, no nonsense—just the way I loved it.I dumped the ba
Last Updated: 2025-01-03
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