Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80431 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
“We don’t have time to sugarcoat this,” my dad said. “We know about the selection and we also know that you’ve been a pain in the ass over it.”
I looked between my parents, a little shocked. “You know about that?”
“Yes, we know, and you need to stop playing hard to get.”
I held my hand up, trying to ward off their words. “You know about the selection, four guys to one girl, and you want me to accept this?”
“Honey, it is a great honor.”
“Since when?”
“Since it has opened doors to every single girl who has been chosen. This isn’t something you want to mess with, Sian. Believe me. You will stop embarrassing us, and you will go back to school, and you will accept them.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You’re kidding.”
“Sian, do you really think you’re going to do anything better?” my dad asked. “No offense, but you’re not exactly the prettiest girl in the bunch.”
Pressing my lips together, I glanced down at my hands. With my parents trying to squash Drew’s memory, I had forgotten about how vile they could be. Their nastiness seeped through my pores.
These were the parents I remembered when Drew was around. They would always say the cruelest of things. They were a contradiction. One moment they were shouting about saving people and the unfairness of the justice system, the next they were acting like the founding members.
“I don’t want to,” I said.
I tensed up as my dad moved from his seat to the one closest to me. I gasped as he suddenly gripped my neck, holding me tightly. A vague memory of him doing this to me when I was a little girl, my head near a pile of mud, rings in my mind. It was the strangest feeling that washed over me. I didn’t feel like myself.
“Alexander,” my mother said.
“Shut up.” He squeezed my neck even tighter and I know there would be bruises. I’d have to keep my hair down or people would see them.
“You’re a strong person, Sian. Don’t you ever forget it. No one can take that away from you.”
Tears filled my eyes at the memory of Drew. Her comforting words. I needed her right now. I hated to be alone.
“Now, Sian, listen closely. You are going to go back to school. You will accept the selection, and you will keep those boys happy. We will know if you break the rules, and if you do so, I promise you I will make sure your friend pays the consequences.”
“You can’t do anything to Heather.”
It was the wrong thing to say as his other hand slid beneath the table. His nails dug into the flesh of my thigh.
“I can end her miserable excuse of a life. She is only there because we all allow it. There are ways to tarnish her reputation. If you think to try and rebel against this, then you should remember we’re the ones in charge here, not you, and you no longer have your nanny to run to.”
The waiter returned, and my dad let me go. He stayed by my side and as he stroked my head as if he was petting a dog, I couldn’t help but flinch. The waiter ignored it.
I picked up my fork, heart pounding, feeling sick to my stomach.
“You will stop causing so much trouble, Sian, and learn to get in line, or else you’re not going to like the consequences.”
I didn’t eat a single bite of food. My dad stayed close to my side throughout the whole meal. He didn’t seem to mind that I ate very little.
After dinner came dessert, which I declined. I felt sick still.
On the ride back to the school, my mom tried to say something cheery as if they hadn’t just pushed me into a corner. Even if I took away Heather’s chance of a good future, they would find some way to make me do what they wanted.
Once back at the school, I couldn’t wait to get the hell out of the car. My father grabbed my arm. “Learn to conform, Sian. Life will be a lot easier for you.”
I nodded and climbed out of the car.
Without looking back, I took off, going straight to my dorm.
No one was around, and I slammed the door closed, folding my arms across my stomach as I sank to the floor.
What the hell had just happened?
Why were they so … mean?
Old memories bombarded my head. A particularly vivid one of me dressed in dungarees, my hair pulled back. I was playing with a doll in the center of the hallway. My father was on his cell phone and he walked down the hall. I didn’t see him, but he must have seen me as he stood on my hand as he passed.
I screamed, and he shoved me out of the way with a boot to the side.