AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
ELODIE
My feet don’t stop moving as I travel through the park in a town I’ve been in for less than twenty-four hours. It’s dark and clouds cover the sky, preventing any light from shining through as I try to figure out where I am. The scent of rain still lingers in the air and I suppress a shiver.
It’s hard enough to maintain my footing as I slip on the wet leaves beneath me. Branches overhead drip with leftover raindrops from the storm that just ended. Thunder is still in the distance, so I pick up my pace, glancing around to see if anything looks familiar. But no, it’s just more fucking trees because my dumb ass thought taking a shortcut in a town I don’t know, in the middle of the night, was a genius idea.
“You are such a moron, Elodie,” I grumble under my breath, cursing myself for being so damn stupid.
I’m lost. Of course I am. Of course this would happen to me. To make matters worse, my cell service sucks in this damn town. At least I’ve got my flashlight on my phone to lead me toward the light coming from the lampposts ahead.
“Come with me, Elodie,” I mock my sixteen-year-old sister. “It’ll be so fun, Elodie.”
Ugh! It was not fun. In fact, it was tortuous.
I stop walking, do a quick one-eighty, and when I’m back to facing the direction I was headed, I move again, this time faster.
Yep. I’m lost.
With no idea where I’m at or where I’m going, I raise my phone above my head, searching for a bar. But there's still nothing. Defeated, I let my hand fall to my side with a heavy sigh.
Going to that stupid party was the worst decision I’ve made all year. Who goes to a party full of people they don’t know in a town they’ve never been to?
Me. That’s who. Elodie Astor—book smart, but socially stupid.
In my defense, it was Brogan’s grand idea. My sister is all-in when it comes to anything social. Bonus points if it involves boys. She begged me to go. Promised to stay by my side. Then, ditched me the second she caught the eye of some jock whose name she didn't even know.
Brogan and I are polar opposites. She’s an extrovert by nature—cheerleader, life of the party. Whereas I’m more introverted—class president, honor society.
Although, I did get a small tattoo spontaneously when I was sixteen, and to me, that was pretty damn ballsy. I walked around feeling tough as nails for a week. I laugh about it now because it really wasn’t that big of a deal.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a total prude. There was a guy who piqued my interest tonight. He was a masterpiece in human form. His tousled, yet sexy, dark blond hair fell in front of his bright blue eyes. I could tell from his build he was athletic, even before he mentioned playing football. He was exactly the type of guy I avoided, yet for some reason, I wanted to stand there all night talking to him.
That is, until he stopped talking mid-sentence to make out with some girl who approached us. To make matters worse, she was a cute girl. The type of girl who brings all your own insecurities to the surface.
I’m not talking about a little peck on the lips, either. Those two were ripping into each other’s mouths like they were sharing their favorite dessert. It was disgusting, and a little embarrassing to watch.
So, I stood there, tapping the toe of my sandal on the pavement beside the pool while fighting to avoid looking at them.
With his hand resting on her ass, he licked her spit from his lips and proceeded to finish telling me all about his record-breaking pass this season.
I am not the type of girl that sits back while assholes like him do whatever they want, so I just walked away. He got all puffy chested and told me I better not walk away from him when he’s talking, so I spun around and stepped into him.
Other people might not stand up to that guy, but I’m not from here, so I never have to see him again, therefore consequences for my actions don’t exist.
His eyes lit with a challenge and I happily accepted. The girl that was all over him decided to take a step back, giving me enough space to slowly back him up to the pool's edge. The second he reached for me, I put my knee to his balls and a light shove was all he needed to go falling backward into the pool.
For the brief moment he was under the water, people laughed, but as soon as he could hear them again, crickets. I ran out of that place faster than the speed of light.
Now I do have to pay the consequences, and it’s all for going to that party in the first place.
The truth is, I love socializing for an hour or even two, but then I’m peopled out and ready to go home to climb back into my bubble.
My mom forced me and my two younger sisters to go on this four-hour road trip with her to the town she grew up in, because “it’ll be a fun adventure and a great opportunity for me to bond with my girls.” Her words, not mine. We’re staying at a small hotel not far from the school and I have yet to spend any quality time with my mother and sisters since we arrived.
Mom’s a sucker for nostalgia. She kept all her old cheerleader uniforms and let us try them on as kids growing up. I swear that woman would keep a gum wrapper if it was given to her by the right person. The day we arrived, she even had the grand idea of taking us to her old high school to show us around once classes let out for the day.
When we got to the school, my mother used the perfect opportunity to ask if they had a photography room just to see Lake’s expression. It was only a couple days ago Lake got caught making out with a boy in the dark room at our high school. The principal called Mom and we’ve been teasing Lake about it ever since. Mom still treats my youngest sister like she’s a baby. She’s fifteen years old now. Of course she’s kissing boys.
