The Spring Collection: Rue Blooms

By Frye Martin

Spring is a time of renewal and regeneration, but sometimes things don't go right.

Drew wakes up from a prolonged daze when he realizes that desks and students are disappearing into thin air. Devony is on the right track. Her whole life is set on the perfect path but when she makes a spur of the moment decision to engage in a local fad, she finds herself at the mercy of her nemesis. Justin is an out-of-town-er and is on his own when he meets a girl who looks like a mermaid and makes him feel like a prince. Is it all a game?

Rue Blooms is the third in the seasonal Four Seasons series. These stories contain the hopefulness, and sometimes uncertainty, of spring. Featured are "The Disappearing Desks," "Flash Drive" and "Rue Blooms."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Freedom Dawn Press
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311625021

Frye Martin

Frye Martin writes YA and adult fiction and loves it.***********The heart,The pen,The why,The when,The nameThe place,The hidden face,The hope,The dream,The bursting seam,The story must be told.***********

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Freedom Dawn Press

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Spring Collection: Rue Blooms

Published by Freedom Dawn Press at Smashwords

Copyright 2015 Frye Martin

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Other Titles by Frye Martin

Novels

Bonfire of the Vanities: Strike

Bonfire of the Vanities: Combust

Rhona's Phoenix

Collections

Cold Dark

The Fall Collection: Back to School

We Are the Future

The Winter Collection: Snow Injections

The Spring Collection: Rue Blooms

Characters Live

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The Spring Collection: Rue Blooms

by Frye Martin

Freedom Dawn Press

Contents

About The Spring Collection: Rue Blooms

The Disappearing Desks

Rue Blooms

Flash Drive

Coming Titles

Meet the Author

Contact the Author

About This Collection

"Rue blooms when reality goes ignored."

Spring is a time of renewal and regeneration, but sometimes things don't go right.

Drew wakes up from a prolonged daze when he realizes that desks and students are disappearing into thin air.

Justin is an out-of-town-er and is on his own when he meets a girl who looks like a mermaid and makes him feel like a prince. Is it all a game?

Devony is on the right track. Her whole life is set on the perfect path but when she makes a spur of the moment decision to engage in a local fad, she finds herself at the mercy of her nemesis.

Rue Blooms is the third in a seasonal collection of short stories.. These stories contain the hopefulness, and sometimes uncertainty, of spring. Featured are The Disappearing Desks, Flash Drive and Rue Blooms.

Rue Blooms follows The Fall Collection: Back to School and Snow Injections in the Four Seasons series.

^

The Disappearing Desks

The desks did not begin disappearing gradually. It began suddenly. It was immediately noticeable but no one noticed.

It was something easy to explain away, even on days when a desk would disappear in the middle of a class period. No one had seen a thing nor heard a sound, yet a desk--an actual desk--vanished and the person sitting there went with it.

The people reappeared. They always materialized later in another classroom, by the vending machines, or they might show up the following day like nothing ever happened. It was always as if nothing had happened. That was what made it hard to notice. When anyone noticed it, a plausible explanation was always there.

I thought I saw him in class today. I must be mistaken.

I thought there was a desk behind me. Oh well. I need more sleep.

She was sitting right there, wasn't she? Wait, was that today or yesterday? What day is it again?

Anyone could have disappeared--the teacher, any of the students, the president of the United States could have shown up and then back-stepped into a black hole--and Drew would not have cared. There was only one exception.

Drew was a junior. He was taller than some guys, shorter than some. He had a small build and a small personality. He was the opposite of O'Rick Fitzjohn, who was tall, big and loud. He was the only person Drew cared about in the entire class because he hated O'Rick and had devoted years of his life to destroying him. As good as it sounded to have O'Rick obliterated from existence, it would in no way have brought Drew the satisfaction he wanted.

Drew had been hacking away at the giant for years. He had been slow and calculated and there were major successes. He exposed O'Rick's cheating ring, which had involved four other athletes also. He tipped off several of the brute's girlfriends as to exactly when and where they could catch him in the act of multitasking with another girl. One of them was a sucker punch. Lori, was the girl that was the blue chip in their school's dating market. They were an obvious match--some might even say perfect. It was a huge embarrassment for the guy to be on the losing side of that mess. But the greatest success was crippling O'Rick for a few weeks.

Not even the cheating scandal had affected the kid's football game. He was a star athlete so he had friends in high places. The cheating thing was swept up without being hidden under any rug so that it seemed like none of it had ever happened. Injuring O'Rick's foot was the only thing that had worked. A well-placed book, O'Rick's cocky unawareness, Drew's good fortune and timing and voilà--the unbreakable beast broke a toe. Who would have thought such a small body part would do so much to ruin him? It was, apparently, a serious injury, but one that he recovered from in near-miraculous time. After only a few weeks, he was back on the field.

Drew was dedicated. He was totally unprepared to give up because he hadn't found the thing that would fell his adversary for good. That was the reason he noticed O'Rick's absence. Anything that would rescue him from Drew's wrath was an obstacle that must be dismantled and taken out of the way.

O'Rick and his desk disappeared from the classroom on the Monday of the last week before spring break. By the time the class ended, there he was in the hallway. He already had his tongue in Patrisha Linley's mouth next to the lockers. Drew released a relieved breath. Then he imagined himself kicking the guy to dust.

Drew prayed that his chance wouldn't be taken from him when he was so close.

The next day, when O'Rick was still absent, Drew finally saw what was happening. He'd seen the guy right before class. He'd even made eye contact with him. Drew wasn't sure what O'Rick had seen, although it was probably hate, disgust, what they call vitriol. Drew had clearly seen it in the other one's eyes--something he would never name.

It was suddenly so obvious that Drew wondered how he had ever missed it. Most of the class was gone. In fact, there were only six of them left, excepting the teacher. Including the teacher, there were seven. There were only six student desks and one larger one for the teacher, Mrs. Rudolph. So Drew made a point to watch everything around him closely. This was an