Surviving Elite High: Senior Year
Author: John H. Ames
Series: Surviving Elite High (The previous book, Surviving Elite High is available from Budding Moon Press.)
Genre: YA, GLBT, Gay Romance
Length: Novel
eISBN: 978-1-937796-25-9
MSRP: 7.99
You pay: 4.99

Cover art: Les Byerley

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And you thought last year was full of drama, suspense and romance? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

After a summer of love, hard work and…ahem…cohabitation, Nick and John are beginning their senior year. However, putting the memory of last year’s turbulent events at Elite High behind them proves harder than ever. Mysterious notes begin to appear inside John’s locker. Something is definitely wrong since the writer of the notes is none other than Matthew Ward, the homicidal student who nearly killed John. Is Matthew now free to finish what he started?

As if that weren’t bad enough, a new girl at school has an obsession with Nick that makes her do terrible things, things that threaten to tear Nick and John apart at every turn. Will Nick and John ever find happiness and stability together? Or will they end up going their separate ways?

All of these questions and more will be answered in part two of the Surviving Elite High saga!

Publisher’s note and advisory: Part one of the Surviving Elite High saga is available from Budding Moon Press. This novel contains a graphic rape scene (not between the romantic couple).

Excerpt:

We laughed. Madison turned to me after noticing my mussed hair and tired face. “What happened to you? You look like you haven’t slept for the last three days.”

“Thanks to you.”

“Oh my God. Nick! I bet he tried everything on you.”

“Hell, no! Thank God. If he did, I’d be dead by now.”

They laughed. Kitty carefully hugged me while we walked to class. “He still hasn’t tried everything on you, John?”

“Sadly, no, Kitty.”

While Madison giggled her little ass off, Kitty continued. “I’d hate to be you right now because I know how wild Nick can be in bed.”

Madison and I froze almost immediately. A cold rush embraced my entire body and my stomach churned. Even my heart skipped a few beats when I turned into her direction. “What do you mean, Kitty?”

“I mean, from what I’ve heard.” Kitty looked nervous. It was one of the few times she ever looked that way. She broke her eye contact with me and looked around scratching her head. She looked apprehensive, but I shook the thought from my head. This was Kitty we were talking about, my sister.

“Okay,” I answered her.

Madison, however, kept examining Kitty’s sudden change of emotion. We continued down the hallway since we were really late for class. Madison turned to me as we neared the door. “Next time I’ll get you more stuff.”

I came to a sudden stop and rubbed my aching lower back. Was Madison crazy? I’d barely made it three nights and we had not tried all of the objects yet. “Madison, please don’t give Nick more weapons of mass destruction.”

They laughed their little hearts out even though I was dead serious. Nick and sex toys were a deadly combination. They each wrapped one arm around me and we continued with our journey to class.

For our first period, we had English Literature with Mrs. Arzu. She was a proud African-American woman in her late thirties. I loved the color of her dark brown skin unlike my pale white. I always wanted to have darker skin or be evenly tan like Nick. Genetics had screwed me over big time.

We found Nick waiting for us inside. He quickly stood and walked up to Madison, smiling. He wrapped one arm around her. “You’re the best did you know that? When I get married, you’ll be my best man.”

My skin went cold since that was the first time I heard Nick talking about marriage and a part of me loved the idea of marrying him.

Madison laughed and hugged him tight. “I can see that you liked my gifts.”

“I loved them.” With a peck on her cheek, Nick let go of her.

The girls giggled because they knew the truth.

Nick walked up to me and wrapped his arm around me. “Jaan loved them too. Right, Jaan?”

Jaan. The nickname Nick gave me last year. It means love in Hindi and sounds almost like ‘John’ but is pronounced with a flatter sound.

“Yes I did, Madison.” The girls tried their best to hold in their laughter by covering their mouths with their hands.

“Don’t get me wrong, Kitty,” Nick said. “We loved your gifts too. The apartment has never looked better. You’ll be Jaan’s maid of honor at our wedding.”

Kitty smiled happily. “Have you guys been talking about marriage?”

“No,” Nick sat down at his desk. “But, we can’t rule out the possibility.”

“That would be awesome!” Madison clapped her hands together. “Nick and I could go to a female strip club to watch the women shake their little butts while you guys go to a male strip club and watch the men shake their little buns of steel.”

“Yeah!” Nick shouted while he high-fived Madison.

We laughed. But when the moment passed, I was left feeling excited. I had never thought about marriage before, but as Nick stated, ‘we can’t rule it out the possibility.’ My heart skipped at the thought of marrying Nick. Can you imagine that? Me? John Hawking? That sounded a billion times cooler than Ames. I loved the way John Hawking sounded. I recited “John Hawking” around my head for a few seconds. It made me extremely happy.

Suddenly, Mrs. Arzu walked into the room. “Good morning class! Welcome to another exciting school year!” Everyone cheered. She motioned for us to settle down. “Now, everyone,” she went on, “I’m so glad to see you all in my class. I look forward to discussing fine literature with each and every one of you.” The class cheered again. Mrs. Arzu was obviously popular and known for her spirit-rousing speeches. I knew that from several students who took her class the year before. “So,” she said, smiling, “Let’s put the past behind us and move on with our―”

A tiny knock on the classroom door got our attention. Mrs. Arzu went to the door and stepped out. She returned holding a note. As she read it, she addressed the entire class. “It seems that we’ve got a new student this year, transferring from Orange County, California.” Mrs. Arzu ushered someone into the room. “Emily Roberts, welcome to Elite High!”

I pulled in a breath. Emily was the same girl that I met at the movie rental store the previous Friday. She smiled and examined everyone in the room. Her eyes immediately rested on Nick. She waved at him and Nick smiled happily. He was actually beaming! Did they know each other from somewhere? It sure seemed that way. My heart immediately jolted while my hands became sweaty. Now I knew why I felt the way I did the day I met her. Emily meant trouble for us and our love.