Valentine's Day Make Us Swoon Finalists!

Update: Entry #5 is the winner! You should have received an email from secret.life.of.writers@gmail.com by now; if not--please contact us! Thanks so much to everyone who participated in the contest. Happy Valentine's Day!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered our contest! We had LOTS of fabulous entries, and narrowing it down to just five was definitely not an easy task. But here we are, five wonderfully swoon-worthy scenes for you to read a vote for! Leave your votes in the comment box, and please only choose one entry! Voting ends at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!

The winner will be announced first thing tomorrow morning, and will soon be followed our second round of SeCrits! (So in other words, be sure to come back and see us tomorrow too!)

And without further ado...

Entry #1

She always arrives late and even when he's not looking, he can sense her through a curious magnetism, a pole invisible inside of him realigning to match the one in her, electric fields shivering when she gets close. 

He can't keep doing this, not for seven more weeks. When she moves to get the voltmeter, she litters the air around her with the stray sparks of her scent and he's gone. They're assigned lab partners, and he's probably just static to her anyway, a one-second hush on the radio band she sometimes dances to when she thinks he's not paying attention. 

She asks for the ruler. He tries to hand it to her, but when his fingers brush hers the electricity turns his spine into a live wire and he jolts, dropping it. 

"My bad." Her lips quirk into a half-smile and she picks it up. This is how she crackles herself into his daydreams class after class: he'll replay this in his head until he's worn the memory raw. "Sorry! That's like the third time I've staticked someone today." 

He waves it off and doesn't realize he sounds like a total idiot until after he finishes saying that it's totally fine, really, and that she should feel free to shock him whenever she wants. Then the words race back to him and he shudders, face flushed, trying to conceal the fact that he is being slowly consumed from the inside out, even as her laughter singes into his skin.

Entry #2 

Setup: 17yo Marilla and her boyfriend, Chris, who are both wizards, have been discussing college plans. Since Marilla wants to study engineering while Chris wants to study magic, they would have to go to different colleges.

“Me? An accountant,” Chris laughs and pulls me into his arms, brushing his lips across my forehead. I try but fail to concentrate on his words, my attention zeroing in on the touch of his lips. “Thank you, Marilla. I’m glad to know you’d be there for me even if I was something so boring. But trust me when I say being a wizard is all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Hmmm,” I respond, enraptured by his fingers tracing my shoulder blade. “That’s good.”

“Yes, it is,” he says. “And you know getting a foundation at a first-rate Norm engineering school isn’t a terrible idea at all. And maybe, you could come here for grad sch…” I cut his sentence short, leaning up and kissing him hard.

He staggers back into the wall. I press against him, not letting up. I slide my hands up his chest, feeling the strength of his muscle beneath his t-shirt. A part of me wishes it wasn’t there, that I could feel the smooth skin underneath, but the other half of me is focused on his lips, on the taste of his mouth, unable to comprehend that anything could ever be so sweet. 

“Get a room!” Someone shouts, and I jump back, my face flushing. Chris doesn’t move away from the wall, staring at me with wide eyes as he tries to catch his breath. My flush deepens. I did that. I literally took his breath away. I’m somehow proud and embarrassed at the same time.

Entry #3

From my Upper MG science fiction, thirteen-year-old Gary, who has been abducted by aliens and gifted the power of telekinesis, has just used his ability to retrieve a pillow tucked tightly inside the hand of his teenaged, alien trainer, Esther.

Esther sucked in a breath, opened her hand, and stared at the red burn mark on her palm.

Before she could say anything, Gary spoke up, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be so rough.” He took her wrist and inspected the red marks in her palm. With his free hand he touched the tips of his fingers to his lips then laid them gently in her palm. He folded her fingers over his and gazed into her eyes. “All better.” He smiled.

Esther blinked, a look of surprise forming on her face. “Yes, that feels much better now.” Her shimmering lips curled upward causing a dimple to appear on her right cheek.

Her happiness made Gary feel like he was floating, like nothing bad could ever change this one moment. Though he didn't know why, he leaned in closer and closer, time crawling by. Her exotic, floral scent filled his nose and intoxicated him. His mouth went dry as he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.

When Gary regained control of his frozen muscles, he pulled back immediately and looked away from Esther, cheeks burning. His stomach knotted with regret. Did I just ruin our friendship?

Her hand lightly touched his shoulder. Calm washed over him, his nerves eased, and the knot in his stomach untwisted. He turned to her, surprised to see her still smiling. It was infectious. He tried to hide the giant grin erupting. She's happy, so maybe I didn't mess anything up. What does this mean?

Entry #4 

This is from my WiP, and it's after Merrin and Elias have gotten in a fight. He's gone off to his room alone,  fallen asleep, and had lots of freaky dreams.

“Shh. Elias, it’s okay.” Her soft voice is sweet and warm but oh, God,
how did Merrin get into this dream? Cool fingers trail down the side
of my face, and my breaths slow. 

“There. There. It’s okay.” 

My eyes drift shut. “Merrin.” I croak in a whisper. “How did you…” 

“Daniel’s hack, remember?” 

Her body presses flush against mine, and I vaguely wonder how she got

in here without me noticing at the same time that I know I don’t
actually give a shit.  

My eyes have adjusted to the dark, and now I can see gray-on-gray in
relief. The delicate outline of her nose, her dark eyelashes blinking
at me. She props herself up on her elbow, keeping her body against
mine, letting her other hand trail down my neck and rest on my chest.
She is so sure, so steady. So definitely here, with me, despite what I
said to her. 

My eye trains down to her her shoulder, perfectly round and starkly
white. My brain wraps around one overwhelming thought - I hate the
thin strap that runs between her shoulder and her collarbone more than
anything else in the world right this moment. Somehow, I nod my head
in answer to her question. 

She leans down and kisses my forehead. She’s never done that before,
but God, I never want her to stop. The way her throat curves down over
my lips… 

She pulls back, looking down at me again. “We’re going to be okay.”

Entry #5

My chest heaves from the run, my shirt soaked on both sides. I catch my breath and weigh my options. He approaches: ten feet away, then five. At three feet, I fling my last balloon and fall to the ground, hoping to take him by surprise, hoping his return throw sails over my head. My balloon hits, bursting just above his collar bone and spraying up against his neck.

He laughs. His balloon? Still in his hand.

"Oh, you've asked for it now."

"Oh shit," I say, rolling into a ball and covering my head.
The grass rustles as Eric steps toward me. He's right over me, waiting for me to move.

"Come on. Get it over with. I surrender.”

"You do?"
I uncurl and nod. He kneels and reaches for my hand, pulls me up to my knees. My chest brushes against his.
My skin shivers, and I don't even try to pretend it's from the wet T-shirt. I let my body fall against him, press against him. He drops my hand and puts his arm around me. I feel his pulse through his fingertips on the small of my back. I fight the need to blink.

Then there's a pop. A fresh cold drips down my face, my shoulder, my back.

"You dirty rat. You tricked me.”

"Payback," he whispers.

His hand finds my face, pulls me closer, tips my head back, slides over my cheek. His lips are there. Right there.

Alright readers, take it away! You have one vote, so choose wisely! :)