THE FOURTH TIME CHARM - Maya Hughes

Aug 5, 2026

A tense opening begins when LJ is jolted awake by buzzing silence on his phone and a string of unknown missed calls, only to reach Marisa Saunders amid emergency noise and urgent confusion. As sirens roar and fire reports surface, LJ rushes through the night to reach her apartment complex as smoke, flames, and first responders fill the scene. The narrative follows his escalating panic, frantic decisions, and the uncertainty of whether the person on the gurney is truly Marisa, grounding the story in immediate danger and emotional urgency.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages206

Reading Time5 h 17 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Epilogue

The End

Want More Maya Hughes?

THE FOURTH TIME CHARM

MAYA HUGHES

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Design: Najla Qamber, Qamber Designs

Cover Image: Rafa Catala

Editors: Dawn Alexander, Sarah Kremen-Hicks, Sarah Kellogg

To Dawn! Now that I’ve foundyou, I’m never letting go! :-P

CONTENTS

1. LJ

2. Marisa

3. Marisa

4. LJ

5. Marisa

6. LJ

7. Marisa

8. Marisa

9. LJ

10. Marisa

11. LJ

12. Marisa

13. LJ

14. Marisa

15. Marisa

16. LJ

17. Marisa

18. LJ

19. Marisa

20. LJ

21. Marisa

22. LJ

23. Marisa

24. LJ

25. Marisa

26. LJ

27. Marisa

28. LJ

29. Marisa

30. LJ

31. Marisa

Epilogue

The End

Want More Maya Hughes?

W hen I found the buzzing thing buried in my blankets, I’d launch it out my window.

Marisa always told me to put my phone into night mode after ten o’clock, but I hadn’t listened. And I’d make sure to never let her know she ’d been right.

Usually, my phone sat on the shelf by my bed, but I’d fallen asleep studying for finals while icing the growing bruise on my thigh. At least there were only three spring football practices left before summer break—I’d finally be off Coach Saunders ’s shit list for a while.

Why wouldn’t the buzzing stop? My arms and legs were lead logs weighing my blankets down. Off-season weight training and practices sucked so much more than any hell week during the season.

Following my charging cable, I found my phone and saw notifications of five missed calls on the screen.

My heart rate spiked. The calls were from an unknown number. Was it the hospital? Had something happened to my dad?

Before I could tap the number, the phone jumped in my hand. I answered before the first ring.

“Hello?”

Sirens blared and truck engines rumbled and roared nearly drowning out the voice. I slammed my hand over my ear like it would help to block out all the background noise on the other end of the line.

A cleat spike slammed into my heart.

“LJ?”

“Marisa?” I shot out of bed and struggled to shove my jeans on. “What happened? Where are you?”

“Fire…my apartment…ambulance.”

I strained to hear her over the power washer on steroids—no, it must be the fire hoses.

“I’m on my way. I’m coming!” I shouted into the receiver, not even sure if she could hear me. I buttoned my jeans, grabbed a t-shirt from my hamper and snagged some sneakers off the floor.

Rushing out of my room, I tucked my sneakers under my arm and wrestled with my t-shirt.

“Dude, where ’s the fire?” Reece rubbed his eyes, stepping out of his bedroom.

“At Marisa ’s.”

“Are you serious?”

“I told her that apartment was a piece of crap. I should’ve found her somewhere better to live.”My sneakers dropped. I tugged my shirt all the way on.

“Your shoes don’t match.” He said it like that was the most shocking thing we were dealing with right now.“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. I’m going there now.” I pulled on one sneaker, grabbing onto the railing so I didn’t fall and break my damn neck. Fear for Marisa clogged my throat and made it hard to focus.

I needed to get to her. I needed to see her. I needed her to be okay.

Sitting on the bottom step, I shoved my foot into the mismatched shoe and grabbed my key from my pocket.

Sweat beaded on my skin. I jumped from the top of the porch steps and scrambled onto the sidewalk, taking off for my car halfa block away. If anything happened to her, I’d lose it.

I flicked on the headlights, rocketing down the empty street.

I got stuck at a deserted red light and banged my hands against the wheel, willing the damn thing to change. What the hell? It was three in the morning.

After two hour-long minutes, I vibrated in my seat, checked each way at least twice, and said screw

FAQs

Why does LJ feel intense uncertainty at the ambulance?

He sees a figure on a gurney but cannot immediately confirm whether it is Marisa, while EMTs focus on medical checks and possible smoke inhalation or burns.

Aug 5, 2026

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