Adelaide feels the heat of eyes on her even in the dark depths of the out-of-order toilets. She can hear the batted breaths of others listening closely to see if they can hear her cry. She can feel the brush of air on the back of her neck as people whisper about her. Most of all, however, she feels the salty pain of tears unshed in her eyes.

She won't let them fall, won't let the people waiting out the door see her cry. Instead, she takes a deep soothing breath, straightens her shoulders and puts on a fake, perfect smile. She exits the cubicle and finds two girls standing at the counter pretending to put on their makeup.

Adelaide comes up and washes her hands, watching the girls. The look of disappointment to find her not curled up in a ball is enough to bring a real smile to her face. As she dries her hand one of the girls slams down the newspaper, and red lipstick is written over the front of the page.

The storm out hand in hand while Adelaide is left alone.

The paper on the counter glistens with the lipstick, and the words 'Jealous Whore' are sprawled over the top of the article Adelaide had spent weeks making perfect before she even gave it to the editor to get another 4 days of edits. It was the best thing she's ever written and not just that it was real, it was raw. It was the truth.

She picks up the paper looking at the words underneath, the article she had put her whole soul into.

If there's one thing everyone knows about Clearwater University it's the Hell hounds Ice Hockey team. When the school was first built it was home to the eccentric Sir Andrew Clearwater who helped bring about the town's love for Ice Hockey back in the 1800s. He was proud to be Wildebridge's leading father in all things hockey. He created the school to teach other boys how to play the game and eventually the school got big enough to be invited to play against other schools just as hockey-focused as them.

This is where the imbalance in power started.

Sir Andrew put those boys above anything else, above rules or laws, above principles and beliefs. Above everything that makes someone a decent human being.

These boys were horrible people, reports of them setting houses on fire with families still inside have floated around for years. But are they just stories? If anything in the past 200 years at this university is anything to say by I would put a lot of money into saying those boys set the families alight.

This disregard for rules and abuse of power has been passed down through the Hell Hounds team for years to the point that the boys who make the team become true hellhounds to everyone around them, with zero to no consequences at all. They are above everything and everyone in their minds.

It's time for a change, these boys are just that boys. They have no power, they have nothing without the team so we shouldn't make them out to be superheroes. We shouldn't allow complete disregard for the bullying and punishment that goes on from the team to all the other members of the university.

They are nothing without us but we are everything without them.

The article continues for the rest of the page, she even got quotes from anonymous sources on the bullying this year's team have done before the season had even begun. She did it right and got her sources perfect. This was a real, personal article that should have don't exactly what she had hoped. Brought those asshole Hell Hounds down a few pegs.

Adelaide knew there would be some backlash from her words, she had expected it but at the same everyone seems to be against her now.

She scrunches up the ruined page and throws it in the bin before heading back into the war zone that the university has now become to her.

Outside the halls are crowded as people make their way around campus to their next class, or to study but that crowd breaks immediately for her, letting her walk through the middle with no problem. As if even being seen near her would bring the wrath of the team down on them.

She is thankfully done with her lessons for the day and is making her way back to her quiet single dorm room with the locks heavily guarding her against any backlash from the article.

If only she could actually make it to the dorm before they descended.

She gets as far as outside and down the stairs before it happens.

The sound of the doors slamming shut behind her has her head swinging around along with everyone else so the focus finally leaves Adelaide and the red blush that had been coating her whole body fades just a little bit.

Her eyes find the intrusion of the silence that had followed her around since the newspaper's publication this morning.

Samuel Matthews the current senior and captain of the Hell Hounds storming her way. His eyes are glaring at her like sharp ice-blue picks trying to scratch their way into her body. His hands are clenched and his teeth are snarled when he finally reaches her. She wants to move out of this way, pretending that this reaction isn't what she thought when she pressed send on the article but if anyone was going to be pissed at her words it would be the person most prevalent in it.

Samuel Matthew's favourite pastime isn't studying for his senior finals or even working on his hockey instead it's finding new punching bags every week. Someone new to pick on and bully, punching, hitting, and verbal abuse is all open to him and he loves every second of it. Until that person drops out that is and then he needs someone new to pass his time with. The only thing he might love more is the amount of pussy he gets as captain of the team.

Now it seems Adelaide had poked the bear too hard as he stands over her breathing heavily into her face.

She squeaks.

"Are you the fucking bitch?" He spat the words out at her.

Adelaide terrified and practically shaking in her boots still can't help herself.

"Sorry, you need to be a little more specific. Which bitch are you looking for?" She gives him a half smile but the growl ripped from his throat has the smile slipping away immediately.

"You fucking must be her. I hear you have a problem with the way I captain. If you have a problem the polite thing to do is come up to me and tell me to my face." Each word has his spit spraying all over her face.

She glares up at him, the same amount of venom as his.

"Okay asshole. I do have a problem with you, I have a problem with the whole goddamn team. Your rude, you think the world revolves around you and guess what your fucking breath stinks so back the fuck up bro."

He doesn't move back instead he takes a step closer to her, his mouth right next to her until all she can see is him, and all she can smell is him.

"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this." He whispers, chuckling under his breath before he straightens back up.

"What the fuck does that mean?" She asks him throwing her arms up but he just continues walking backwards, a smile sprayed across his face.

"You're just gonna need to wait and find out." He winks at her before turning on his heel and heading back to the rest of the Hell Hounds.

Her eyes follow their movements as they all glare at her before heading into their next class. One stays behind still watching her with a tightened fist and a glare.

She starts shaking then, fear rattling her bones but she smirks at the hellhound watching her before flipping him the finger and turning back towards the dorms.

Walking at a brisk pace she keeps her ears open for anyone that might seek revenge coming up behind her, her eyes on high alert trying to remember every face she passes in case they attack her and she has to make identification later on.

When she found her passion for bringing the truth to the forefront of the world and joining the investigative journalist career she knew sometimes her world might be in danger, and people might take revenge for her words. She just had no idea that revenge would happen in her final year at university.

She wanted her big break, dreaming about the day she rattles some cages and finds the truth that only she can see. She just had no idea how much it would terrify her.

She gets the dorms intact, her whole body shaking to the point that even though she's freezing and her teeth are clattering she has a layer of sweat built up over her body.

She makes it to her dorm on the third floor as quickly as she can before she finally breaks down as she locks the door.

She lets the tears of fear fall from her face as she slides down the door. Holding her knees to her chest as a hole is ripped into her chest. A sob breaks the silence of the room as she holds tighter to herself trying to hold it together.

She has her truth and that's all that matters right now. 

Hello friends and welcome to my newest book and chapter one of something I am very excited to share with everyone. This book was so much fun to plan and with chapter one written and now published I can't wait to get even more into it. 

This book started off a something so different but now it's amazing and I just can't wait to learn more about my characters and their stories along with you all. 

This book will be updated every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday until Nanowrimo (November) check out chapter one of my Nano project - The Royal Spare for information on upload schedule this coming November. 

As always if you see anything that needs editing or changing in my book please comment on it so I can edit it in Draft Two. 

Thank you so much for reading,
Laura Tector