poison you? Is that it? You don't trust the meat?"
"When you die, and I live, then we can talk."
"So are beers and chips the only food items not contaminated by the
government?"
Colt merely glared at me.
After a few more bites of my wrap, I poked Papa on the shoulder.
"I have to go to the bathroom," I said, waiting for him to slide out of the
vinyl booth. Karissa, who was sitting on a chair at the end of the table, smiled
innocently up at me.
"Do you have to go poop or pee?"
My sister was a real classy bitch.
"Don't be gross," I said, ruffling her hair.
"I'm honestly curious!"
"That's a demented thing to be curious about," Dad pointed out. Karissa
huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Bodily fluids interest me. Is there something wrong with that?"
Papa's face had turned green.
Dad patted the back of Papa's hand sympathetically. If there was one
thing that could make the monster man squeamish, it was talk of pee and
periods and all that fun stuff.
A useful weapon in my arsenal, if I did say so myself.
I made my way to the bathroom quickly, did my business, and washed my
hands. Frowning, I considered myself in the restaurant's dirty mirror.
I was short for my age, almost embarrassingly so. It made my petite
frame seem almost childish. My hair was an onyx black, hanging down my
back in light waves. I wasn't model-thin like the other girls. A slab of fat
made my belly protrude over the waistband of my jeans. Not skinny. Not
completely fat.
Not beautiful.
Not ugly.
Average.
I frowned at the face reflected back at me, hating every flaw on my brown
skin and every tangle in my long hair. Why couldn't I have looked like Fiona?
White and blond and skinny?
Beautiful.
Why couldn't I be beautiful?
I pushed aside the self-doubt and quickly dried my hands. My psychiatrist
told me that I couldn't allow my thoughts to sink back into such dark
territory. There wasn't a switch that I could just flip off, though. It took
considerable effort to smother some of the darker thoughts and find my way
back into the light. It was like tumbling through a riptide, my depression. I
would sink beneath wave after wave of endless darkness, desperate to find a
pocket of fresh air. Once I found it, mercifully, I would be pulled back under
yet again. The water would carry me further and further away from the shore,
away from the light. I needed to stay above water.
I needed to stay in the light.
I decided to think about school instead as I headed back to the table.
Anything to distract myself from the current direction of my thoughts.
I would be going to a new school. Was I nervous? Excited? What would
Jaron think if-
My thoughts were interrupted as my body collided with a wall. At least, I
thought it was a wall. My anger quickly transformed into horror when I met
the amused smirk of a handsome man.
His hair was dark, a few shades lighter than my own, and he had lightly
tanned skin. Unlike mine, his skin color seemed to be a product of sunlight,
not genetics. He wore a black jacket, tight over his muscles, and a white shirt
that accentuated his chiseled chest.
"You made her speechless Ty," a feminine voice said with a chuckle. A
chorus of laughs greeted her statement.
I tore my gaze away from Tall, Dark, and Sexy and faced the table that
the voice had come from. There were about six of them - two girls and four
guys. They all wore similar, black jackets with skulls on the back and had
numerous piercings adorning their skin. It was the girl with the lilac hair that
had spoken.
"I'm sorry," I sputtered.
"Oh look," the man I bumped into drawled lazily. "It speaks."
The group broke into another round of laughter.
Feeling tears spring to my eyes, accompanied by the irresistible urge to
run away as fast and as far as I could, I shouldered the stranger out of my
way. Ty, I think the girl said his name was.
"She's so cute!" the second girl said. "Look at her waddle."
Ty, coming to stand beside me, mimicked the way I walked, hips swaying
side to side in exaggerated movements. My face burned red. I had dealt with
bullies when I was younger, but they had stopped after I befriended Fiona.
The girl had a way of innately demanding respect and fear from anyone dumb
enough to stare directly at her. Once I began dating Jaron? Nobody would
dare even speak my name badly behind my back, let alone to my face. It was
the type of power that both terrified and enthralled me. I felt as if I had the
world at my fingertips. Were those feelings healthy? Normal? Sane? I
wouldn't be able to tell you. All I knew for certain was that I wished Fiona
was with me now. She would know exactly what to say, what witty retort to
come back with. I was inadequate compared to her; I couldn't face my
monsters alone.
Ty stopped moving almost immediately and turned towards me.
"We were just teasing you."
"How dare you?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off with a flick of my wrist.
"How dare you stand there and tease me? Does that make you feel manly,
teasing a girl half your size? Does it make your flaccid dick suddenly hard?"
Hissing, I took a step closer to him until we were nose to nose. "You are an
asshole. I don't even know you, yet I can tell that. Grow up. Or take Viagra to
fix that little problem of yours."
"Wait!" he called.
Ignoring him, I made my way back through the dining room and to my
family. They were currently in a heated debate about the effectiveness of
stools in the bathroom. Apparently, Colt believed that by elevating your feet
when you were pooping, it would make said poop come out easier.
My brother was a strange man.
Papa's eyes zeroed in on my face immediately. He had always been the
most perceptive of my family members.
"You okay?" he asked, eyes scanning the room as if looking for any
potential danger. I bit my lip, debating whether or not I should tell him about
the rude teenagers. I decided quickly against it.
I would probably never see them again after today. People were dicks,
especially kids. Besides, I didn't want my fathers to know that their words
and teasing had affected me. They would ship me off to the nearest hospital if
I so much as described the darkness I could feel brewing inside of me. The
dark, inky tendrils that threatened to consume me whole.
I kept my mouth shut and enjoyed the rest of my meal.
Document Outline
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
Other Books by Katie May
Acknowledgments
About the Author
First Chapter of Darkness We Crave!
First Chapter of Gangs and Ghosts!