Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
DIARY ENTRY, AGE 13
Dear Diary,
Today was weird. Carson Childress told me I was pretty and asked me to sit with him in the cafeteria while we were studying in the library, but then at lunch when I approached his table, he said I had to give him a kiss to sit down.
I don’t want to kiss Carson. I barely even know him. Mama says he’s probably trying to show off or impress me, which makes it double dumb. There’s nothing impressive about forcing a girl to kiss you.
Even worse, Kelsey and Eliza laughed at me instead of having my back, and they’re supposed to be my best friends. After lunch, they told me I couldn’t sit with them anymore because their table was for couples only. No one told me getting a boyfriend changes your personality. I don’t really get it, but a part of me can’t help but wonder if I’m missing out. Then again, if Carson Childress is my only choice, maybe I’m better off alone.
Mama says it’s called peer pressure and that if I don’t like Carson, I should stand my ground. But I don’t know which sounds worse: having a boyfriend who’s a jerk or sitting all alone.
I guess since it’s Friday, I have the weekend to think about it.
Doubtfully, Nora
Dear Diary,
After two days of Carson pestering me during our shared classes and eating all alone at lunch while my so-called friends pointed and laughed, I gave in and told Carson I’d be his girlfriend.
That good-for-nothing snake said he’d only date me for a kiss and a boob squeeze. I told him to kick rocks and then he called me a Goody-Two-Shoes fire crotch.
Mama says I hurt his “masculine pride” by turning him down. But if he’s that dang fragile then I’m definitely not interested.
But the whole thing got me thinking about what I want in a boyfriend. So, here’s a list:
-Smart
-Funny
-Kind
It seems like a short list, but Dad was all of those things, and he made Mama happier than anyone else on the planet.
He’s been gone for three months now, and she’s still so sad. I wish I could do something to help, but the only thing that would make her better is him not being dead.
But he is, and I haven’t seen Mama smile since. I miss her smile. It was wide and toothy, and just the sight of it felt like the best kind of hug.
This got off track pretty quick, huh, diary? I don’t know. I guess I just needed to vent.
Annoyed, Nora
CHAPTER 2
ATLAS
“Please don’t be mad,” I murmur, reaching across the center console for Scarlet’s hand.
Much to my surprise, she allows me to interlace our fingers. She’s been giving me the silent treatment and glaring like a pissed-off alley cat ever since she came back to my room to find me with my nose buried in Nora’s diary, instead of coming straight out to her after getting ready.
“I just don’t get it, Atlas.” She strokes her thumb over my knuckle. “First you forgot we even had plans, and then after being reminded, you still blew me off to read your sister’s diary.”
Not my fucking sister, I think to myself, knowing better than to say it out loud. I’m trying to shove the worms back into the damn can, not open it from both ends.
“I’m not trying to be rude,” she continues, “but like, it’s kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“Weird how?” I ask, turning into The Creek’s parking lot. Although, if I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure I want to hear her answer.
“Seriously?” She yanks her hand out of my grip. “You don’t see anything weird or creepy about a grown-ass man reading his little sister’s diary?”
I heave out a breath and throw my truck into park. “First of all, Nora’s not my sister. My dad married her mom—”
“Fine, she’s your stepsister,” Scarlet growls, cutting me off. “That’s still family.”
Anger simmers beneath my ribs, but I swallow down the urge to lash out, and continue evenly. “Second, I barely even know Nora. Hell, I’ve probably only been around her a handful of times in the years our parents were married. Third, it’s not that I care about what’s in her diary, it’s that she left it for me, with a note begging me to read it. Begging me, Scar. You’re over here making me out to be some kind of fucking pedophile, and that’s fucked up, big time fucked up. Not to mention, you know Dad’s been MIA and I’m worried about both of them. So, excuse-the-fuck-out-of-me for latching onto any clue I can.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” Scarlet looks away, shame coloring her cheeks. “I guess I was just jealous you forgot about me.”
Leaning over the console, I run my knuckles under her chin, drawing her gaze back my way. “No need to be jealous, Scar. You know you’re my girl.”