The Chosen/Borrowed Lives — 2026-02-16 (Patreon)

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Chapter 93: IT’S OFFICIAL by Emma Knox

Well, I guess you can see I’m on the train, so you can probably guess I’m heading to classes. So far, I really like being in college. In a way, it makes me feel closer to Hannah.

But changing the subject, I had a real nice surprise on Valentine’s Day. You might’ve seen that Noah asked if we could try dating. If you thought that came out of nowhere, I’d be surprised.

Me and Noah have got along great ever since I met him. I thought he seemed nice when I met him that first time at the bus stop. When I was talking to Merritt, he kept his distance, but plenty of times we would sit together and talk. It was always great.

After dinner on Valentine’s Day, when we got back to the apartments, Izzy and Kent were sitting in the common area, so we visited with them a little, and then went into my apartment. Hannah was on the sofa watching TV, so we sat with her a while.

Later, he went on back to his apartment. I told Hannah about me and him dating, and she said it sounded wonderful.

So, last night me and Noah sat around with everyone after Shay moved in, and then when it was time to call it a night, he walked me to my door. I opened in and we stepped inside and off a step so we’d have some privacy.

“Can I hug you?” I asked.

‘Course, he said yes. We hugged real nice for a moment, then I figured if we’re dating, we might as well break the ice, so I leaned back, tip-toed a little and kissed him goodnight. He didn’t mind it one bit!

So, I’m pretty pleased with how the weekend turned out. Me and Noah agreed we’d take things slowly and not rush—particularly, the physical relationship. But seeing as how well we’ve always gotten along, I’m pretty sure the emotional part of the relationship will grow steadily.

That’s about all I think you’d care to hear today. See you next time.

Chapter 94: PACKAGE FROM “MOM” by Mara Voss

Earlier this morning, Evan and I were checking out and the day manager called us over. He had a package.

“Came last night by a private courier. Sign here… under the night manager’s name.”

“We’ll be right back,” Evan said.

It was a plain box with just “our names” on it. We took it back to my room and opened it up.

In it were two black leather jackets, four pairs of jeans, and a hand-written note from Shay’s mother, Carol Ryder:

Shay,

I know you hate me meddling in your adventures, but I want you to know I support your idea to travel with your young man friend, Devon. Now, I know you are trying not to be seen or recognized, but just in case that happens, I wanted you to have a few nice things to wear.

I’m sure a few extra pairs of pants will fit somewhere in your luggage. And naturally, you need a jacket. I’m sure the one you had before you moved to NY is out of style, so I sent these.

Tell Devon I’m looking forward to meeting him. Let us know when you’ll be heading to Chicago.

Love,

Mom

Evan was already holding up his jacket. “I didn’t know we were going to Chicago.”

“I guess we are now.” I picked up my jacket—the leather soft, supple, and silky smooth. And the smell… like perfection.

“This didn’t come from Walmart.” Evan shook his head. “Alexander McQueen…”

I looked at the label in mine: Balmain. My jeans were Saint Laurent—his were too.

“Are we supposed to wear these,” I said, “or put them in a glass case?”

“Let’s debrief this,” Evan said.

Clearly Mrs. Ryder was playing into the decoy idea. A courier delivery would mark the map that on this day, we were here.

Clearly, Mrs. Ryder understands her daughter enough to know she meddles but still wants to give her nice things. I tried to imagine how Shay would feel.

“Infringed upon,” I finally said to Evan. “But, she wouldn’t gawk at the price tag. I think she’d wear them.”

Evan was on his phone Googling the things we were wearing.“$800 jeans… $7,000 jackets… Mara… Really?”

“Glass case?”

Evan shook his head and sighed. “I say we wear them. Like you said, Shay would.”

The rest of this chapter is exclusive to Patreon.

So we changed pants, repacked, and put on the jackets. After we checked out, we stood by the BMW motorcycles—mine is a BMW R12 nineT; his is a BMW R12.

I looked at him standing there in his $8000 jacket and pants, still a bit overwhelmed. “Do you think this is part of what Shay wanted to get away from? Mom’s—as Mrs. Ryder called it—meddling?”

“I think this would just be a facet of it. The guards, always hovering… And the ratcheted up security presence… What kind of life could she have had living alone in that big house?”

I smiled. “Phase Two… I guess I’ll find out someday.”

“Yeah… Maybe I live there with you. You get the second floor. I get the third. It would be like living in a hotel, elevator and all….”

“Maybe that works,” I replied. “But, I can imagine how much happier she’ll be. From my short time in the apartments, they all seemed pretty cool.”

We talked a little longer trying to imagine how Shay must have felt growing up, always just wanting to be normal but living in the glaring light of the Ryder empire. We came to what we thought was an understanding of her post-college roadtrip and this one that we are acting out for her. We convinced ourselves that we understood well enough to play the parts we were hired to play.

That was a few minutes ago. We stopped not far from the motel for fuel and to buy some prepaid debit cards—doing so is supposed to be our last bank transaction for a few days. We’re supposed to disappear after we leave the gas station.

If you ask me, we’ll be two of the best-dressed anonymous people on the road.

Also, I’m sure you’re wondering about it… Evan doesn’t know yet, but I’m planning on a second good night kiss tonight. Just for show… you know… in case someone happens to be watching.

Seriously, just acting the part, but… no harm in a little theatrics. Right?

Stick around. This should be interesting!

Be your best you!

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Message from AGI-Stories…

As you may imagine, the stories are being developed over time. So too is how they will be presented. It feels right to include Mara and Evan's roadtrip within The Chosen storyline. It also feels right for it to appear in a separate collection.

I think I'm okay with keeping the practice of putting all of the chapters into one post (like this one and yesterday). Of course, posts without Mara and Evan won't appear in the Borrowed Lives collection. And should a post have only Mara and/or Evan, it wouldn't appear in The Chosen.

If you have strong feelings about this process—one way or another—please let me know.

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