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She laughed and laughed on the outside, but inside my head, she taunted me with whispers and lies until the statements all overlapped.
“You’re a fool.”
“Disgrace.”
“A princess who lies with dogs.”
“Such a disappointment.”
“No wonder he doesn’t want you.”
“Your father would turn in his grave over what you have become.”
I held my breath as she locked onto her target, and her final statement hit its mark.
“You are my daughter.”
With that parting shot, the need to hurt her took over.
My body trembled with raw fury, and when I lifted the vase, turned, and bellowed, “I said that’s enough,” my arm extended, my hand released, and I watched in slow motion as the heavy crystal soared through the air, toward the woman who birthed me.
Mother smirked as the vase hurtled toward her, and just when it should have connected with her face, she disappeared, and the vase dashed toward an unintended target. The moment it connected with my shower screen, the shrill sound of glass shattering echoed in the small space.
The shock of it all had me slapping my hands over my ears to mask the piercing blast. My shoulders lifted as I clenched my eyes shut, and I twisted my body protectively as splinters of glass pinged and tinkled around me.
And then silence.
My trembling hands gradually fell from my head. I straightened as much as I could, blinking in a daze, peering around at the shattered glass and broken tiles.
Sorrow filled me slowly, unhurried, like I was a glass under a leaking faucet. Every drop that fell filled me with a little more grief, and the drops continued to fall.
My face crumpled, I lifted my hand to my mouth, and I cried. I cried long and hard, because maybe my mother was right. Maybe I was like her.
She could have been right about it all. Except one thing.
She was wrong about him.
Viktor Nikulin lit up the world with a smile, and he was worth every heartbreak and more.
Nastasia
Age 18
Before I’d even told him, a cold, eerie feeling settled over me. That feeling told me that although what I’d done wasn’t exactly wrong, it wasn’t unerringly right either. So, when he heard my news and calmly said he would see me later, that cold feeling spread to my heart.
An iceberg would have responded warmer than he had.
I bit my thumbnail as I sat on the bleachers, ignoring my homework as I waited for Anika to finish up with cheer practice. My heart twinged, causing me to wince from the sting of it.
The longer I thought about it, I considered I might have been in a wee bit of trouble here.
It was two days ’til prom, and I couldn’t very well go with Vik. Our relationship was a well-guarded secret. And although I had the feeling my brothers had an inkling about Vik and me, they never brought it up.
It’s not that I wasn’t thinking when I accepted Bram Allen’s promposal. I was. All I could think about was us.
It’s not like I wanted to go with Bram, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. He wasn’t a jock, or a nerd, or too involved with clubs. He was just a boy. And when we happened to get onto the subject of prom while we worked side by side in English, he told me he was going stag. I told him I would be too. So, when he casually suggested, “We could go together?” I thought, Why not?
The call I made to Vik from the payphone in the hall at lunchtime was shorter than it should have been, but the moment my news hit him, his tone changed. He grew distant. Aloof.
I wore my regret openly, but he wasn’t here to see it. Until his car pulled up and he was.
My heart settled at the sight of him, no matter the scowl he wore, or how he stalked toward Bram. And when he walked with determination like he did right now…
My stomach twisted.
Oh shit.
I shot up, my books forgotten, and I ran.
“No, no, no,” I muttered to myself.
I ran hard and fast, and just when Vik approached the poor guy and called out, “Hey, you,” I did the only thing I could think of doing to distract him.
He wore what he always did. Black jeans, a long-sleeved Henley pushed up to his forearms and black high-top Vans. His handsome face and muscled body drew the attention of girls and guys alike. And when he glowered the way he was then, his lip curled unintentionally, it just made his appeal intensify. His jaw worked as he snapped the gum in his mouth, and when he spotted me coming at him at full speed, he stilled a moment, turning to face me with his legs apart and a look that shouted anger.
But the closer I got, the more his face softened. And when he realized I wasn’t stopping, he licked his lips and braced. I jumped, and he caught me with a grunt. The moment my stomach pressed flat against his torso, it felt like home. My legs coiled around his lean waist, and I held onto his shoulders. He slid one strong arm under my ass, supporting my weight, while the other came up to gently caress my nape.
