If you got anyone to describe Jessie Reynolds-Somber in one word, it would be 'lucky.' She survived childhood leukemia (twice), has the best friend-slash-roommate in the world, and she's studying something she loves at the university she's forever adored. But not even November can describe why she feels so incomplete, as though she's forgotten to do something she'll never get a chance to do. Why she feels like she's failed---no, worse, like she's a failure. [FORMERLY AN ENTRY FOR THE 2026 ONC]

The quiet transfer student at Mara Collins' high school is too careful. Too polite. Too precise. Too trained. When a classmate whispers, "Wait. That's RIN," Mara falls down an internet rabbit hole and discovers the truth. Han Yerin is not just a girl from South Korea. She is a world famous idol on hiatus after a scandal that shook her group. The company wants her back. The fans want answers. The internet wants blood. Mara wants HER. As paparazzi circle and contracts tighten, Yerin faces an ultimatum. Return to the stage and stay controlled. Or risk everything for something real. (Prompt: You discover the quiet transfer student in your class is actually a world-famous pop star hiding in plain sight, and their secret begins to reshape both your lives.) (24,650 words)

In East Texas, you're expected to come back with pie, gossip, or maybe a good story. Just not blood on your hands. Briar brought home a Frenchman, a secret, and more trouble than her mama's prayers could fix. Prompt 51: "While in search of a missing friend, you accidentally kidnap the most feared crime lord." #ONC2026 (Open Novella Contest 2026)

When Brie lands a spot on Cheese Whiz, a cheese-themed cooking competition, the last thing she expects is to run into Colby Jackson, the man who left her heart with more holes than Swiss cheese. ~~~ It was supposed to be simple. Enter the contest, win the prize money, open her own restaurant. Easy peasy, extra cheesy. So of course Colby freaking Jackson and his smug, entirely too sexy face just had to come back into Brie's life like an extra stinky wheel of limburger cheese. Surrounded by fierce competitors and legendary amounts of dairy, Brie and Colby exchange barbs sharper than any cheddar. Yet, as the competition heats up, Brie quickly discovers the mozzarella isn't the only thing melting. Against her better judgment, Colby is once again worming his way into her heart. Will Brie find a whey to make things work between them, or will he leave her feeling bleu? 🧀 Rivals to lovers 🧀 Second chance romance 🧀 All puns are fully intended Using prompts 29 and 89 for ONC 2026! Cover by @-DeeIsDead-

So... Riven kidnapped the magnanimous King of the Aer Folk because a magical book containing the soul of his cheating ex-boyfriend told him to, but that does not make him crazy, not at all. After all he only wants to revive Jesse, so he can kill him again. Where does Vlad land in all of this, you ask? Well he is that poor, kidnapped King who is now curse-bound to a freaking lunatic. But our wonderful King Valadrius is not sad, not at all. And he is definitely not falling in love with his kidnapper, or kissing him, no matter what the curse tells him to do. #ONC2026 Genre: Fantasy-Romance Copyright© 2026 short_flame

Welcome to The Boyfriend Hotline. Press 1 for heartbreak. Press 2 for memories. Press 3 for dreams. ⋆☆⋆ Flynn Eastwood runs a dating service called The Boyfriend Hotline. When he gets a call from a mysterious man asking him if option 4 exists - three months to befriend the cute girl at the bakery where he works at, he quickly puts the phone down. But when the man calls again offering $30,000 to do the job, Flynn knows he can't say no. ⋆☆⋆ [ glassheart chronicles : #1.6] [© ataliass 2026 ] [ ONC 2026 ROUND 2 WINNER ]

Harper is hopeless. Her boyfriend of four years dumped her just a month before the wedding of their mutual friend, and now he's posting lovey-dovey photos with his new girlfriend all over social media. She needs a new date for the wedding. She needs revenge. Levi is frustrated. He has a successful career and great standing in his grandfather's company, but said grandfather isn't satisfied. Now that Levi is on the brink of taking over, he gives him an ultimatum: get married and settle down before he turns thirty. And the clock is ticking. It just so happens that Harper's sister is getting married to Levi's brother, and a spilled cup of coffee gets them to share their predicaments with each other. They make a deal: they'll help each other out, get married in a couple of months, and divorce after a year or so. Sounds simple enough, except for the fact that they'll have to convince their families that they've been secretly dating for a while. But when unexpected feelings get in the way, selling their fake relationship will be the least of their worries.

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Moving across the country to the apartment directly across the hall from your high school best friend is either a stroke of genius or a statistical disaster. For Elizabeth Stokes and Jackson Tyler, who have spent a decade perfecting the art of "just friends," the proximity should be easy, familiar, and completely safe. But as their old rhythms collide with the adults they've become, the logic they've used to protect their friendship starts to fail, proving that love is the only variable you can't account for.

(Round One Winner) All Hima can do is practice her apologies to Afroz in her head. God knows there's so much she needs to apologize for but it feels like a death sentence every time she even think of hitting her up again. Part cowardice and part self-inflicted penance, she stays away without being able to fully forget Afroz. Until a butt-dial on a random Tuesday forces her to deal with everything she's been trying to avoid.