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Megan and Deshawn started dating, and they were being praised as being one of the first interracial couples that the school had seen in awhile. They were praised by students and teachers alike. Of course, some people weren't happy, and among them was Aniyah. She severely disapproved of it, partly because she not-so-secretly liked Deshawn herself, and partly because she felt that the relationship pushed the colorism agenda: a Black guy (Deshawn) was dating a light-skinned/white girl (Megan), leaving dark-skinned girls like Aniyah in the dust and making them feel less than their light-skinned and white counterparts. So, Aniyah rallied Maria, Roselyn, Natalie, and Emma to conduct a plan to destroy the relationship. She kicked off the plan by flirting with Deshawn. He obviously tells her that he's not interested, but she persists. Rather than simply walking away, he actually shoves her in the lockers before walking away. Aniyah merely scoffs. This wouldn't be the last time, either.

After school, following a flirtatious voicemail from Connor Davidson, the most popular guy in their grade (Natalie and Emma in disguise), Megan and Deshawn have a huge fight. The latter angrily slaps her, but before she could run out, he embraces her, and she forgives him. I didn't like the fact that that act of domestic violence was undermined, but I digress. Megan says that they're being plotted against (it was then revealed that Roselyn was the one who told her about it earlier that day).

Later that night, Roselyn joins a four-way FaceTime call between Aniyah, Maria, Natalie, and Emma. The girls tell her more details about the plan while Megan and Deshawn silently listen to it on the other line. As the tea is being spilled, there is an obvious sense of hurt and betrayal in Megan's eyes. She unmutes the call and speaks. "Thanks, Roselyn. I've heard enough." She hangs up and cries in Deshawn's arms.

Varying degrees of shock and dismay are seen in the four girls' faces. Emma's face in particular says, "Roselyn ruined the plan," rather than, "Oh, man. I messed up."

Maria turns the call to Roselyn. "Just a tip, Roselyn," she says heated. "No one likes a snitch. I'd be scared if I were you. Just watch your back." She then hangs up.

The next day, Deshawn confronts Aniyah about the incident. Aniyah shows no remorse and tries to hone in on him. Already angered, he begins to assault her. Starting at her head, he slowly works his way lower. Aniyah is too weak to defend herself and falls to the ground. She is unable to get back up.

At the hospital, Doctor Russell and Nurse Lawson discuss the situation, and the former reveals that Aniyah is now paralyzed (Deshawn called the paramedics with an alibi, so he was cleared as a suspect). Aniyah is seen laying in her hospital bed in anguish.

The next day, Deshawn goes to visit Aniyah. Aniyah is now wheelchair-bound and unable to leave her own bedroom by herself (her parents weren't home). Aniyah threatens to call the police, but before she could, Deshawn grabs her wheelchair and throws her down the stairs. He immediately calls the cops.

The next day, a celebration of life service is held in the gym after lunch. Roselyn is more or less confused over what happened, while Maria is grief-stricken, having been closer to Aniyah than anyone else. Emma takes advantage of Maria's broken state to try and campaign for Halloween princess, much to the anger of Megan. She savagely berates the two, which gets little-to-no reaction from Emma but causes Maria to become even more upset. Roselyn lets it slide, understanding the pain and betrayal that Megan had to endure. She offers to hang out with her after school, but Megan politely declines.

Over the course of the school day, Megan does her best to avoid Natalie and Emma. I applauded her for this, as most people would just beat the living heck out of their so-called friends. At the end of the day, Natalie and Emma unsuccessfully talk to Megan as Megan gets on the bus. After she sits, she looks out the window, and the bus starts to drive away. As the bus leaves, it fades to black and stays black for awhile. Then, it fades out.

It goes to Maria, who is lying on her bed listening to some music. I could barely make it out, but it sounded like "Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper, which makes sense, as the lyrics are about losing a loved one. Maria is depressed, appropriately so due to the death of Aniyah. She never changed out of her outfit for the day (a pink sweater and black denim jeans); she just looks defeated.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. Maria gets up and goes downstairs to open the door, revealing to be Megan. She has her hands behind her back and doesn't say anything.

"What?" Maria says in a rude and annoyed tone.

Megan looks into her eyes for a minute or two as the camera zooms in. Then she speaks in a chilling whisper.

"Say hi to Aniyah for me."

Realizing what she meant, Maria takes off, but Megan grabs the back of her sweater. Maria manages to break free with the sweater ripping a bit. She advances up the stairs with Megan right behind her. Maria runs into the bathroom and locks the door. She frantically looks around and realizes that she can't escape. Megan breaks down the door with a lump hammer. She kicks the door down and jumped in. Maria tries to run through the exit, but Megan grabs her hair and throws her down to the ground and immediately beats her to death with the hammer. After seeing her accomplishment, she sits on the floor to catch her breath for a few minutes. She then discards all evidence and calls the police.

After Maria's murder, one thing crossed my mind: Emma is so next. Sure, Megan (or Deshawn if he was willing to kill again) could go after Natalie, but Natalie was more or less along for the ride. She was too insecure to have anything openly against her. Emma, on the other hand, was a whole other person.

Like I predicted, it goes to Emma. It's at night, and Emma is doing some homework. Given that Aniyah and Maria's parents weren't present when their daughters were killed, it was safe to say that Emma was home alone as well. As the camera zooms in, it transitions from in front of her to behind her. Each transition increases with intensity and speed. When the camera is right in front of her, it goes to black. I assume this to be her demise, but it doesn't happen. Emma just gets the power back on and resumes working. Then, boom! The hammer goes down, and Emma falls to the ground with a thud. Megan comes into view, showing no remorse for her action.

"Sorry, Emma, but you left me no choice."

Over decades, fan fiction has become a widely acknowledged (and beloved) genre, providing an opportunity for fans to connect with their favourite fictional universes and likeminded people. From the writing perspective, this term was used to distinguish ‘amateurs’ from ‘professional writers’; and while some stories were read by millions of people, community recognition didn’t translate into any further opportunities for authors.
That’s changed. Thanks to unwavering support of readers and growing interest from attentive publishers, what used to be a purely passion-driven hobby is now a real path into a published author career.
In this article, we’re covering four bestselling authors, whose success in the publishing world started with writing fan fiction.

E.L. James | Fifty Shades of Grey

Whether you love it or hate it, Fifty Shades of Grey is a global publishing phenomenon, with well over 100 million copies sold. Before it became one of the bestselling book series of all time, it was posted on Twilighted.net as — you guessed that right! — a Twilight fanfiction.
The author eventually removed all references to the popular vampire saga, which enabled her to self-publish the story as an ebook and print-on-demand paperback. Shortly after, 50 Shades of Grey was acquired by Penguin Random House for a major re-release.

Cassandra Clare | The Mortal Instruments

Before Cassandra Clare became a household name as a young adult fantasy author, she spent early 2000s writing Harry Potter fanfics that amassed millions of readers online.
In fact, The Mortal Instruments — one the biggest YA fantasy franchises ever — started as a fanfic focused on Ron and Ginny Weasley. Cassandra Clare’s years of writing experience and loyal readership led to massive success of her original work.

Anna Todd | After

Who would have thought that a One Direction fanfic can launch a major writing career? That’s exactly what happened to Anna Todd, whose story After got over a billion views on Wattpad in 2013.
After the book went viral, she renamed the lead character and got a 6-figure publishing deal. The film rights sold to Paramount Pictures, and in 2019, a former fanfic became a film franchise.

SenLinYu | Alchemised

One of the most well-known examples, SenLinYu’s Alchemised started as Manacled — a 900-page Harry Potter fanfic with elements from The Handmaid’s tale. After going viral on Archives of Our Own in 2018, it got re-released as original fiction in 2025, allowing the author to finally copyright and monetize her viral work.
And yes, it became an instant number one bestseller.

The bigger picture

What connects these four authors is that they wrote for their favorite fandoms, mastering their craft and building an audience while simply doing what they love. Ultimately, it was their original voice and style, more so than famous characters, that readers loved and wanted to see in bookstores worldwide.
Today, tools like Written.app allow fan fiction authors to directly distribute and monetize their work by accepting donations, unlike traditional fan fiction platforms. This enables writers to participate in the creator economy, no matter if they see fanfics as a temporary step or the final goal of their journey.

Start publishing on authors.written.app