Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
When my phone rings, I jump on it like it’s a live grenade. Maya is my connection to the outside world, the sane world that has nothing to do with Briggs or any slimy jerks who think they can do whatever they want to women. “Hey. What’s up?” I ask her, flopping down on the bed and staring up at the cracks in the ceiling.
“Do you want to go to a party tonight? I think you deserve it.”
I wasn’t expecting that. “A party? Where?”
“It’s not those Wicked Falls pricks throwing it,” she promises. “It’s a bunch of people I used to know from high school. Maybe you knew them, too. They’re, like, normal people. Regular people.”
“The opposite of the assholes we go to school with, then?” I conclude, and we both laugh, even though it’s not really funny. I still don’t understand what gives any of these people the right to think they can rule over other people with no repercussions. I guess that’s what a lifetime of having family members in power will do to a person’s brain.
“It’ll be fun, and you need some fun,” she announces. I wish I had her positive attitude. All I can seem to do is stumble from one day to the next and try to stay in one piece.
“I don’t know…” I turn my head to look at my closet door, and the thought of what’s inside makes my heart sink. “What are you wearing? I don’t have a lot to choose from.”
“You can totally borrow something of mine.” She says it like it’s nothing. I hope one day, I have enough in my life that I can freely offer things to somebody else.
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
“Come over to my house. I’m home alone and I am not accepting no for an answer, so don’t even bother. I’ll send you the address.” She sounds so happy and positive that it’s almost possible for me to believe this is going to be all right. Briggs isn’t going to be there. None of those awful bullies from school will. This is a whole different group—and if Maya likes and trusts them, they must be at least half decent people. She wouldn’t trust just anybody.
“Okay,” I finally sigh while she giggles, because she got her way. “Send me the address.” Anyway, it’s better than being cramped up in my room all night while Buck and his friends get steadily drunker and more out of control.
Maya winces when I suck in a pained breath through my teeth. “Sorry,” she murmurs. “I’m trying to be as gentle as I can.”
“It’s fine,” I lie as my bruised flesh throbs. “If you can cover up all this bruising, I can handle a little pain.”
“It’s looking good. Nobody will even know it’s there by the time I’m finished.” She taps the tip of the makeup sponge to my nose, making me smile before she continues carefully applying enough layers of foundation to cover up the ugly, purple splotches.
My nerves are jangling. “I still don’t know what to wear. I feel bad borrowing something from you. What if—”
“Stop with the what if,” she almost growls at me. “Let yourself have a little fun. We’ll find you something great to wear, you’ll look super hot, and you’ll have a good time.”
“Me?” I almost can’t fathom the idea.
Rolling her eyes, she replies, “Newsflash: you’re beautiful. Just because there are people in this world who want to make you feel small and silenced doesn’t change who you are.”
There is something really nice about that. Nobody has ever taken the time to talk to me that way before. Mom certainly never has.
The upbeat pop music Maya is playing helps get me in a more lighthearted mood. She steps away for a second, going through her makeup, and I glance around her bedroom. It’s huge, at least four times the size of mine, and she has a walk-in closet full of clothes and shoes. It’s funny. Her family is obviously way in the upper class—my jaw hit my lap when I pulled up in front of this place, in a rich neighborhood with quiet streets and manicured front lawns. She seems so normal. I thought all rich people were like Briggs and his friends. Not her. She’s too busy being generous.
“So your parents are gone tonight?” I ask curiously.
“I live with just my dad,” Maya explains flatly. I wonder what happened to her mom, but the subtle sadness in her eyes makes me stop. “And yes, he is out of town this weekend.”
“I think I would be scared all alone in this huge house,” I try to make a joke but Maya isn’t laughing.
“You have the most gorgeous hair,” she changes the subject as she helps me curl it. Considering how long it is, that’s not easy. But once I get the curls heated with her curling wand, she wraps them around big rollers to cool off before going through her closet. By the time she flings an arm full of dresses on her bed, my head is spinning. I honestly didn’t know it takes this much work to be a girl.