The Grass Wishes to be Emerald
The Hockey Prince's Secret Ice Queen
All I wanted was to find a computer genius to process the non-linear dynamic equations for my ecological model. Instead, I found myself cornered by Julian Andrews, the university's hockey prince, trading a public, staged kiss for his academic support. To finalize our "deal," I was dragged to the campus ice rink. The cheerleaders and puck bunnies immediately swarmed him, mocking my plain clothes and treating me like a pathetic joke. Brooke, the head cheerleader, even set up a figure skating competition with a date with Julian as the grand prize. She performed a basic spin, blew him a kiss, and smugly waited for me to fall flat on my face and humiliate myself. His hockey teammates laughed from the sidelines, watching me try to support Julian as he stumbled around the ice like a newborn giraffe. But as I held his warm hand to keep him from falling, I couldn't help but feel something was terribly wrong. Why was a top-tier athlete faking such awful balance? And why did his ice-blue eyes stare at me with such knowing anticipation, as if he already knew about the professional figure skating past I had spent years trying to bury? "Just let go and skate." He whispered, slowly releasing my hand. I took a deep breath, glided to the center of the rink, and landed a flawless double Axel. As the entire rink fell into a dead, shocked silence, I realized I had just exposed not only my own hidden past, but also the biggest secret of the campus god.
Chapter 1 No.1
Sage POV:
"Let me kiss you."
The request was a low, hurried murmur—warm, quiet, and laced with the faintest edge of mortification.
Stunned, I snapped my head up toward the sound.
Julian Andrews filled my vision. He easily towered a head over me, his lean, athletic frame silhouetted against the bright morning glare, casting a long shadow across the cobblestones. Briar University's star forward. Team captain. The athletic department's untouchable golden boy.
Campus rumor had it that Julian was notoriously indifferent, never sparing anyone a second glance.
Behind him, a solid wall of navy-and-gold varsity jackets blocked the brick path. His teammates were whistling, shoving each other, and effectively cutting off my only exit.
The sudden commotion immediately bottlenecked the morning foot traffic. Whispers rippled through the crowd, and within seconds, a dozen students reached into their pockets out of sheer muscle memory, black camera lenses catching the light as they aimed squarely at us.
Julian's sharp eyes tracked the movement, his jaw tightening into a hard, irritated line.
Before I could take a single defensive step back, he closed the distance between us. Leaning down into my space, his broad shoulders shifted in a subtle, fluid maneuver—throwing up an impenetrable physical wall that completely shielded my face from the intrusive glare of the cameras.
His sharp, striking face hovered breathtakingly close. His deep baritone brushed against my ear, lost to the autumn wind, meant for me alone:
"Sorry to drop this on you," he whispered, his pale blue eyes disarmingly earnest, holding a quiet heat that sent a tremor straight down my spine. "The guys backed me into a locker-room dare... but I'm not here to use you as a joke. We can fake it. Angle it so it looks real—whatever you're comfortable with. Just help me get them off my back, and I owe you one."
It was only then that my brain finally rebooted.
What on earth? He's actually trying to kiss me?
A sharp flare of pure absurdity hit me, and my gaze dropped to my reflection in the dark glass door of the adjacent building: an oversized, faded gray hoodie that swallowed my frame whole, soft, thin jeans worn at the knees, bare-faced dark circles carved beneath my eyes from forty-eight hours of non-stop coding, my dark hair hastily twisted into a cheap plastic claw clip, and a pair of oversized, thick black-rimmed glasses sitting heavy on the bridge of my nose, completely hiding my face.
I looked like a refugee from an all-night disaster. How had Briar's golden prince ended up in front of me?
When I looked back up, my breath trapped in my throat anyway. He was too close, his clean scent of winter mint and cedar wrapping around my senses. Having those pale blue eyes staring straight down at me made my chest tighten in a way I really didn't want to acknowledge.
"Clock's ticking, Cap!" Landon howled from the sidelines, hands cupped around his mouth as the rest of the players lost their minds laughing. "Plant one on her, or enjoy the five-AM bag skate!"
A raucous chorus of barks and chest-thumping went up from the team.
A few yards away, two girls heading toward the dining hall froze in their tracks, pointing their phones.
"Wait, who the hell is that?" one of them laughed loudly, zooming her camera in on my face. "She looks like she just crawled out of a dumpster. There's no way Julian's actually kissing her. Post it on Sidechat right now—this is going straight to number one."
The cruel words hit like a splash of ice water, snapping me out of my daze and instantly killing the stupid flutter in my chest.
I hated the attention.
Four years ago, after my family and my former training partner framed me and destroyed my competitive skating career, I swore I would never be public entertainment again. I buried my name, switched majors, and hid behind oversized fleece and thick glasses just to live an invisible life. If I ended up on the campus forums with Julian Andrews, the internet vultures would dox me before noon—and drag up the toxic scandal I had bled to walk away from.
My research was already on the verge of falling apart. I didn't have time for this circus.
I locked my grip around my heavy binders, my knuckles straining white.
"Find someone else for your dare, Andrews," I said coldly, taking a step back to put distance between us, my voice tight with adrenaline. "I'm not interested in being part of your game. Move."
I kept my head down, attempting to brush past him.
"You're Sage Kelley, right?"
The sound of my name brought my boots to an immediate halt.
I blinked up at him, caught completely off guard.
"Professor Beaumont's senior research student," Julian straightened up slightly, his cadence measured and even, carrying an intellectual sharpness that seemed impossible beneath a varsity jacket. "I saw your Havenwood Creek senior capstone proposal sitting on his desk over Sunday dinner."
My heart gave a hard, hollow thud. Professor Beaumont was my academic advisor—and the guardian of the final research endowment my late father had left behind.
Julian leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near-whisper against the whistle of the wind. "I spent an hour going over your codebase."
My lips parted. "You... read my proposal?"
"Your simulation keeps crashing because your core fluid algorithm strategy is flawed," Julian murmured, his pale blue eyes deadly sharp. "And Uncle Des mentioned that if you don't deliver a working version by this Friday, the department is pulling your grant—which means you don't clear your senior thesis, and you don't graduate in May."
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.
Friday was the deadline. If the funding was pulled, the project died, my senior capstone failed, and I would be forced to stay another semester without my degree. Worse, my father's final ecological legacy would be reduced to scrap paper.
I had been panicking over that exact deadline for two days straight, and Julian had just laid it out like it was nothing.
Worse, I couldn't even brush him off. I had heard the rumors about Beaumont's nephew—the CS prodigy everyone in the department talked about. I just had never realized it was him.
"I know how to fix your algorithm," Julian stated plainly, laying his cards on the table, his gaze locking onto mine with an unshakeable, quiet certainty. "Help me get through this bet. In return, I'll rewrite your boundary calculations tonight. Deal?"
From Grass To Grace
Jake Martins was a struggling husband man, he struggled between many jobs to provide for his rich wife and twin daughters but all he got from his inlaws were insults and disgrace because he couldn't give their daughter the kind of life they wanted for her. Matters became worse when he got into an
Three Wishes
She had three wishes; Being free of the hate charged towards her by standing up for herself. Getting to kiss the hottest guy in school whom almost every girl had a crush on. And her last wish Dating him,the hottest guy in school just like every other girl wanted but what happens when her last wi
LEGEND OF THE EMERALD
Has there been any moment in your life when you felt like you're going crazy? When you can't open up to anybody because of the fear of being called insane? Well, meet Gabriella Neil a third year medical student of a university in Los Angeles. She was raised by her mother and without a father who h
Road to Be the God
Lin Tian time-travel back to this strange world, where he is the son of the wealthiest family of Fengjian City, Beiyan Empire, an empire in Shifang Universe which appreciates martial cultivation. In this universe, there are ten layers of sky, each one connected with Portal of Time and Space. If one
The Destined To Be Yours
Klea 'Harmony' Infantes I sat on the floor while crying. "You're so stupid, Harmony!" I yelled to myself. "You fooled a worthless person!" I shouted to myself while looking in front of the mirror. I feel my. I closed my eyes tightly and stopped crying when someone knocked on the door. I was in
Wishes Come True
On Christmas people should be with their loved ones in the safety of their homes, but I don't have any loved ones, and I'm in the one place that I hate, where I swore never to come back, afraid that I'll get even more broken, and it seems that the more I try to get away, the more obstacles I encount
Maid To Be
Nia is faced with different choices and terrible decisions as her mom lays sick in the hospital. She is forced to take up a job which brings her drama, trouble and love. Life doesn't get better when she becomes a maid in the Williams mansion, home to a large British family, who aren't very welcomin
To Be His Bodyguard
It's been years since Naya left the United States with tears, a broken heart and no father. But now, the President wants her back to protect his son, Tan and her first true love. This is her one chance at finding her father's killer and finally finding a home she can call her own. There is only one
YUANFEN : Destined to be
"Alpha, it's confirmed, we observed her emerging from the airport." Cyrus Carter's body stiffened at the news. It had been three years since he last laid eyes on HER, yet the mention of her name still stirred up the same tumultuous emotions within him. AriaThompson still had the power to make his h
Destined to be yours
prologue She turned towards him. With a seductive look on her face. She came close to him. Wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her with all his myth. He felt like he got his world in her. " you know what, once in these streets we crossed each other's path, and now in these vary streets it
Fated To Be Theirs
Betrayed By One Now Wanted by Four Men! His Betrayal! On the dawn of her wedding day, Ember's life is thrown upside down as she is falsely accused of being behind the death of the Alpha, but while in prison, she discovers that her mate, alongside her best friend, had planned all this out to get rid
Arranged To Be His
Arranged to be his wrath, possession and lastly his bride. Heira's life changed completely when she was forced to marry a cold hearted billionaire, Dante Moretti. Her father, Charles Arven's reputation is being tarnished as a result of a public scandal. His company was losing investors and also goin
Fated to be Mine
"What right do you have to say horrible words at me when you were the one who drugged me? What kind of a man drugs his wife so as to trap her. Do you think I do not know of your escapades with My sister? You wanted a divorce right? You should have said it rather than trying to create a reason for
Signed to be his
Annika Wilson never thought her loyalty would cost her everything. After six years of working tirelessly as a secretary at Noa Arms, all she ever wanted was to open a cozy bakery and finally chase her dream. But when her mother dies, leaving behind overwhelming debts and a sister to care for, Annika
Pretend to Be Mine
Elena Ramirez has spent years cleaning up other people's messes-balancing a demanding analyst job by day and side hustles at night to pay off a mountain of family debt. Love was never on her agenda. Then Adrian Harrington, the city's most feared billionaire, makes an offer she can't ignore: pose as
Meant to be
I looked at her amused. I got up from my seat and stood infront of her. Not too close, not yet. ''You imagine too much Ms. Vitale. I can assure you that I'm not plotting anything, although I did plan something different". I whispered the last part. ''W-what?'' She asked looking confused. Cute.
The Way To Be The God!
Luo Zheng a privileged young master falling from from glory to slavery , and transformed himself into a formidable weapon. Is the beginning of a war ...... Depending on his to body grow stronger into a magical and powerful weapon. He believes with a strong conviction his vision will never be
Fated to be together
The story entails the life of an independent lady who falls in love with a billionaire Brianna castles is a very intelligent caramel skinned,tall,willowy,introverted and independent lady. She works a 9-5 job as a director at new way company and also does event planning on the side. She grew up wit
Bounded to be together
A werewolf clan has a king who does not like lower middle class families . Even if they are destined to meet for the king they can't get together . He was doing this from ages till his one and only son started a relationship with a poor girl who was born to be the king's daughter in law . They hide
