Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 86(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
He looks at me like I belong to him, but the last twelve months have turned my love into a burning hatred. Sorry, Walker, but you missed your chance. If you really cared, you would have called. And it’s not like things could ever workout between step-siblings anyway. That’s just wrong…isn’t it?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
Skylar
Vacations are supposed to be fun, right? Then why am I absolutely miserable? Maybe it’s my fault. That’s really the only conclusion I’ve been able to come to after years of not fitting in with all the other girls I am supposed to be friends with, who actually make me want to drill out my eardrums or give myself a lobotomy when I’m around them.
The inane, pretentious, superficial, reality-TV style chatter is enough to turn any sane person into a psychiatric patient.
“I mean—can ADD get worse? Because I think mine’s getting worse lately. I think it’s because I haven’t been eating enough kale. Honestly, when I was hyper-vegan, I felt so much more focused.”
“Hyper-vegan? What’s hyper-vegan?”
“You know, it’s like vegan only you focus on making sure all your greens are dark greens because you know, the greener the better! They have all the nutrients and vitamins you need.”
“That is so smart! I swear my anxiety was so much better when I was eating acai bowls, and acai bowls are really dark too. I mean—they’re not green, but they’re really…colorful, you know?”
Day in and day out, this is the kind of torturous blather I’ve been forced to listen to, whether it’s at my fancy private schools or at any after-school function or house party. When my dad told me we were going on vacation to a summer cottage in southern Connecticut for a week, I thought it meant getting away from all that. Who knew an eighteen-year-old girl would rather spend time with her own family than with her “friends”?
But what Dad neglected to mention was that this little “vacation” was actually a work trip for him in disguise, which meant several of the guys from his law firm would be coming, along with their daughters.
“That’ll give you something to do.” He smiled this morning as he grabbed his coffee. “That way you won’t be bored all day waiting for your old man to come home.”
“I think Becca and Sam were coming by.” Kathleen, my future step-mom, smiled from his side. “You like them, don’t you?”
“Sure,” I muttered. There was no point in arguing. My fate was already sealed.
* * *
“Are you all right, Skylar?” Becca asks. “You look like your dad just said he was taking your car away.”
I look up, realizing I’ve been zoning out from across the counter, and see she’s handing me a vodka tonic. Seeing as how my dad and future step-mom would both be out of the house today, my house was immediately designated the “party house” and has been taken over by the girls.
I don’t drink but know better than to argue and just smile and take it from her.
“Sorry, I was just thinking—”
“About your soon-to-be step-mom?” Sam asks quickly, her love for gossip shining through her eyes. “Oh my God, is she such a bitch? I bet she’s only out for your dad’s money.”
“No, she’s actually pretty nice,” I reply, trying to not sound bitchy myself.
“Sky’s real mom was the bitch,” Emma giggles, sipping her red wine. “Cheated on her dad when Sky was nine. That’s why they got divorced.”
“Oh my God, is that true?” Sam asks me. “How did I not know that?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “It’s not exactly something I go around telling the world.”
“It’s why she wants to be an artist,” Becca says in that tone of hers. “To sculpt your pain into something. Right, Sky?”
This causes all the other girls to giggle. You’d think in this social strata, pursuing a creative career would be admired, but all these girls have been raised by type-A parents and believe that unless your goal is to go to college, get a masters and maybe even a PhD, then become a doctor, lawyer, or open your own business, you’re wasting your life.
Honestly, I’m not even sure why they hang out with me. Sometimes I think it’s just for their own amusement.
“Yeah, something like that.” I nod. Pretending I have a phone call, I pull my phone from my pocket. “Sorry, I have to take this. My dad.”
I step outside and take a deep breath. It’s not like the air out here is any fresher, but it feels freer. I raise the phone to my ear and fake like I’m having a conversation as I walk down the path to the road, which is quiet of course, given this area’s exclusivity.
A lot of people would say I don’t have a right to complain about my life, being born into such privilege, and that may be true. But a lot of people might be able to understand what it feels like to be completely isolated and alone, without another person in the world to feel close to.
My real mom has been gone for nine years, and after she betrayed my dad’s trust, well…she basically betrayed mine too. We talk occasionally, but our relationship just isn’t the same, and it never will be.