Hey guys! I'm so excited to be participating in the WBP this year. I'm going to be introducing the first chapter of my recently finished novel, EVERGREEN, which just got picked up by a publishing company and is coming out in January! Check out the blurb below (: 

As a member of the Ever Guards, Calvin Jiroux has one job to do-to keep the magic and human worlds from ever colliding.

Calvin doesn't understand why the citizens of Silverton can't see Evergreen, the secluded community where he now lives. Nor do they seem to care about the disappearance of the little girl who once lived in his house. When his mother also goes missing, Calvin's life takes a turn for the worse.

While he's on the search for clues he finds out that the citizens are killing off children. As an Ever Guard this is a red flag and when he takes conditions into his own judgment, he finds that protecting the world and keeping all things colorful and magical...isn't a simple task.

The deepening mystery leads him and the Ever Guards into a trap from which there seems to be no escape. Calvin and his friends fall into a world ruled by a vengeful queen with plans to unleash a powerful evil onto the citizens of Silverton. It soon becomes clear that only Calvin can stop the queen and put an end to her evil intentions.

But Calvin is no ordinary Ever Guard-he's the queen's son.

Calvin Jiroux

The students from school must've found his notes about Sean in class. He often scribbled down his thoughts and daydreams on paper. It wasn't an intentional thing. Writing helped him. And of course, he had a colorful personality, one that labeled him enough to be recognized.

Calvin's shoes squished against the darkened trail, panting and struggling to catch his breath. His legs sore, it felt like he was running through a thick mush of mud. His sides aching and his throat, unbearably dry as a desert. He held onto the straps of his backpack, checking behind him periodically to see if Sean and his crew were still weaving through the night.

He felt numb and tricked when Sean asked him to meet him tonight in the city. It was just like the time when he felt pressured to drink with a couple of friends.

It was during beer pong when Sean noticed him, he complimented his haircut; what was once blond was now brown with waves that reached the tips of his ears. All attention was on him during that party, on Calvin, who found excitement in wearing different pieces of clothing for men and women. He was alone now, standing in the middle of a street and hearing a car beep him out of his memories.

"You're dead, do you hear me!" Sean growled from a distance.

How is it odd to write about the people you like?

Other than his focus on running, all he could think about was the fact that he couldn't have his crush the way he dreamt. The way he wrote about it in his notes. The way he'd crinkle his nose at the corny jokes he heard Sean say during his tutoring sessions with him.

He ran as lightning struck the lilac sky. Thunder bellowed as soon as Calvin stepped in a puddle. The leaves from the trees rustled, making him nervous, and the soft howling wind sent chills down his spine.

Would this be the last time he lived to see a storm like this?

Calvin could feel Sean's burning glare on his back.

Sean's suspension was because of him. A suspicious teacher found a ball of paper in a trash can and it happened to be his doodles. He hadn't planned to tell anyone. It was so stupid to write down something like that and throw it away. It wasn't Sean's first offense either. So it gave the school the right amount of credibility to suspend their soccer captain.

"There he is. Get em!"

Calvin gulped and whirled around in the street. He watched as Sean and his crew ran down the sidewalk for him. Would Sean really follow through and hurt me? After all the English tutoring sessions he'd asked for? And what about all the late nights they'd stayed up together in his room going over how to write a thesis? Clearly their friendship was nothing more than a convenience for Sean.

He pushed back the memories and ran through the city, pacing himself. This was his profession—he was a runner. Every time he'd been introduced to a new school he'd attract bullies like a moth to a flame. Calvin glared up at the tall buildings around him and wiped the wet streaks of rain from the sides of his face, his lips tightened into a thin line.

He reached the end of the sidewalk and surveyed a valley with overgrown weeds, boxcars, and a building with broken windows that were covered by graffiti. It was an abandoned train station with a biker's bridge overhead, leading across the field to the other side of the city. He had never come across the station before or heard any train horns. He rushed forward down a hill and took off toward the boxcars. They were rusty brown and red; some look untouched and others were piled as if it was a junkyard.

Thankfully it was dark and the boxcars were large enough for him to hide himself between the cracks and hope for the best, while he figured out a plan to get away from this nightmare. Last year he remembered his mother bringing out his cake, the six from sixteen was melting. Days like that stayed with him in his memories, and when he was told to make a wish, he wished to stop moving. His mother always kept him sheltered and when things got this rough with bullies, it was too much for her heart to handle, they'd move, or more like disappear.

He stopped running, took a breath and checked behind him, Sean must've lost his trail. He found a rusty train with yellow and red graffiti. Calvin glanced up. the art was pleasant to look at; in fact, the rain made the image even more realistic to him. The piece was of a little girl holding a bouquet of flowers, her eyes were sprayed to look as if she was upset and the rain that dropped tonight formed her tears. Calvin pressed his back against the harsh metal and waited. The coldness pinched into his back as rain slid down his neck.

"He went this way," Sean's growl returned.

"Quick, check around!" One of the guys shouted.

He moved his side against the train—the squelching faded away. When he only heard the sounds of rain pelting against his shoes, he figured Sean's crew gave up on the search. He sniffed, the yard's rusty metallic stench stung his nose.

"Come on, Cal. I'm not mad—I just want to talk things out," So Sean was still searching. Sean challenged Calvin through the maze of trains. "Come out, will you talk to me? I'll make everything up to you," Sean paused. "Why are you running away from me?"

Cars beeped from the street he had been running on, rain pit-patted on the rusty roofs of trains, and buzzing from old streetlights created a distinct hum around the area. He could even hear someone's dog barking and their leash jingling around. These sounds made it to him in the station yet he was far from the street.

Calvin never had much time to explore all of Carolina especially when he knew he wouldn't be staying for long. This station would have been an amazing place for him to escape from all things reality; he could have found himself staring at the graffiti.

Once he felt the vibrations from the bellowing storm, Calvin rushed through the tracks and under the biker's bridge. In a maze of boxcars, he was surrounded by nothing but the smell of sour mud and decay.

He climbed inside the opening of a random boxcar and eyed the space, glancing down at a pile of hay and some boxes of junk inside. One of Sean's friends happened to walk by slowly; briefly glancing into each boxcar. Calvin lost his breath. He stepped to his side and pressed his back against the scraps of metal jutting out from the door and waited in silence.

After a few minutes, he peered out and saw no one around. His heart skipped a beat: this was his chance to run for it. He leapt out of the boxcar and slipped on the tracks, landing on his face.

"What was that?"

"He's on the other side of the damn train," Sean hissed.

Calvin heard shoes smacking through the mud again. This time, the sounds resonated inside his ears. He cringed as they approached his hiding spot. What was his plan? He looked around the space, his breathing picking up and his legs beginning to shake. Where would he go? He shook off the pain from his fall and recollected himself. Maybe I can make a run for it, turn left, no that'd be stupid.

Everything became still and silent and all that could come to mind was the rain splatting on his arm. The squelching stopped and when he turned around—Sean was staring at him with a sly grin. Calvin took off down the muddy tracks farther away from the city and deeper into the maze boxcars. He turned right and the crew yowled from behind.

This was the chase they wanted.

Calvin ran up to a wall of iron in front of him. He came to a stop, gazing up. He felt the rain slide down his cheeks and his heart beating, with each turn he glared at the rain blurred his vision. He twisted around and was greeted with a powerful punch to the face. Pain exploded in his jaw quickly burning across his face as Calvin crashed against the train behind him.

Ears ringing and his head throbbing, a variety of different colors sparkled in the air. He slipped on mud and fell to the ground, wincing at the taste of copper from his blood and the sides of his face blessedly tickling numb.

"I got suspended today because of you." Sean towered over him; he chuckled lowly and then looked at his crew. He was in a black hoodie. One of his friends tossed him a bat and he swung it around playfully.

A jolt of pain flared along the side of Calvin's stomach. His vision blurred, the rain slipping into the corners of his eyes and his mouth gaped as if he'd been stuck in a reoccurring nightmare. The shadows taunted him, the weeds in the mud snickered, latching onto the sides of his arms and legs. Calvin's heart thumped harder.

"I got booted off the varsity team because of you," Sean's tone grew louder against the wind.

Sean allowed him to believe there was something between them. All he'd had to do was follow the rules. He turned in Sean's exams on time and he avoided all interaction with him in the hallways of school. He didn't deserve any of this.

Sean loomed above Calvin, kicking his sides and threatening him with his bat. His crew jumped around with excitement, their fists in the air and their shouts mimicked thunder.

Calvin couldn't hear a thing. He glared up at Sean as lightning struck the sky behind him. His face shadowed an evil he'd only dreamt about, rain dripped from the bottom of his chin and his teeth bared for the fight.

"That'll teach the snitch," Sean hissed, spitting down at Calvin. He grappled Calvin's collar and forced him up onto his feet, shoving him against a boxcar.

He stepped forward readying an uppercut.

"Punks like you deserve to suffer in hell. You actually thought we were going to get together?" Sean snapped. "You wrote about me in your girly little diary? I knew you were sick in the head," his words sizzled against Calvin's face.

Calvin felt something building in his chest and warming in his veins. He couldn't keep his head up so one of Sean's friends stepped forward and yanked on his hair, lifting his face. Sean punched him, Calvin's blood smearing on his fist.

Calvin did something he didn't think he thought he'd do. He fought back.

He narrowed his eyes at Sean and his crew. His actions weren't his. He didn't feel like he was controlling himself when he gripped Sean's wrist proceeding to twist and snap it. Sean grunted, glaring at his wrist as Calvin kicked him against a random boxcar.

What was he to do next? He glanced down at his fists. He just wanted the pain in his chest to stop. He wanted to stop running away.

Calvin walked over to Sean and punched him in the gut.

Before Calvin knew it, he fell to the ground exhausted, knowing this wouldn't keep Sean and his crew from beating him up. They were filled with more energy than before. One grabbed the bat that was on the ground and ran toward him.

Forcing himself to look up, Calvin noticed a guy running in from his peripheral, he came off the sidewalk from across the valley of boxcars. This guy fought off the crew of boys with a punch to Sean's face and a knee in another's gut. Where did he come from?

Sean and his grunting crew ran off into the dark.

"Hey, you gotta get up, man. Don't fall asleep on me." Welcomed by the warm hands of his hero, Calvin forced a grin as the guy wiped the blood and grime from his face. Then, he was gently lifted onto his feet. "You good?" The words bounced from the several rain droplets, deep and cool, echoes of the guy's voice ranged in Calvin's ears. He struggled to turn his face at the guy who saved his life.

What Calvin could see of his rescuer were tattoos of orange flames outlined in red sketched on the side of his neck; the ink edgy—he looked edgier than any guy he'd seen before. It was like a fusion of punk and urban street style. He found the strength to look up at the guy and saw his eyebrows pierced. One of Calvin's eyes refused to stay open, blurriness overpowered his vision, the guy spoke to him but he couldn't make out what he was saying to him.

"Thanks," Calvin managed weakly as he gazed up, falling against the guy's shoulder. He dozed off into an endless black.

I'm so excited to finish this series and knowing this is my fourth book that's being published from Wattpad excites me even more. I've been on Wattpad for 5 years and everything's just starting to happen for me. If it's your dream to be contracted, signed, published, whatever! Just know it'll come with hard work and motivation, you'll get there (:

Remember to comment on Evergreen to successfully enter in my giveaway!

ABOUT MICHAEL: Michael Weekly is a multi-published author known for his ability to construct detailed, believable worlds and then to inject them with captivating stories and relatable characters.

He proudly writes queer and fantasy fiction. His big break came four years ago when he started writing on a site called Wattpad. Prior to that, he had written mainly as a hobby and as an exercise in relaxation and meditation, using writing as an escape out of the world and into his own mind.

Michael is the author of Mystical, which has earned a ton of positive feedback. Mystical was picked up by Limitless Publishing in 2015, and since then, has become a completed trilogy. He is now currently signed with NineStar Press for his upcoming adventure fantasy Evergreen scheduled for release 1/1/18.

When he is not writing, Michael also enjoys playing video games such as League of Legends and Overwatch. He enjoys being a shopaholic and a professional daydreamer.

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