LOGINCatherine Young has it all—cheer captain, the perfect body, and the hottest boyfriend in school, Asher Davies, the soccer star everyone wants. But her perfect life shatters when gossip explodes across campus: Asher cheated with the new transfer blonde, Jennifer White.Heartbroken and humiliated, Catherine drowns her pain at a bar and somehow ends up at her best friend Alice’s house… only Alice isn’t home. Her nerdy, quiet younger brother, Dominic Marion, is.One night of vulnerability turns into the biggest scandal of the year. When Alice finds out—and the rumors spread like wildfire—Catherine is forced to face Dominic in public and pretend to be his girlfriend.But the more time she spends with him, the more she begins to see that the shy, awkward boy she once ignored might just be hiding something rare… something real.Maybe diamonds really do come from the rough.
View MoreThe car slows and stops in front of a large building. KYT is written in bold letters across the top.I want to ask questions. Too many. Why here? How did Dominic end up getting treated in a band’s training place? None of it makes sense. But I keep quiet. Dad has been tense for days. I don’t want to add to it.“We’re here,” Uncle Zachary says as he steps out of the car.The word here hits me hard. The small spark of excitement in me dies right away.Mom keeps looking back at me. Again and again.I finally met her eyes. “Do you know if he’s okay?” I ask.She hesitates. I can tell she doesn’t want to promise anything. Then she reaches for my arms and holds them tight.“Let’s go find out,” she says.We walk toward the building. Each step feels heavy. The doors are glass, tall, clean. I can see people moving inside. Talking. Laughing. It feels wrong.Before we reach the entrance, a man steps in front of us. Security. His face is blank. His arms are crossed.“Can I help you?” he asks.“We’r
The police came not long after. Asher doesn’t fight it. He answers their questions. He goes quiet when they tell him he has to come with them.My chest won’t slow down. I watch as they take him to the car. My legs feel weak.He’s just cruel. That’s all there is to it.All these days, we’ve been waiting. Hoping. Praying for one small answer. And he had one. He had it and kept it to himself. Like it didn’t matter. Like life didn’t matter.It makes me sick. How did I stay with someone like that? How did I not see it?The police don’t let me follow. They don’t let me ask anything. They tell me to stay back.So I called my parents. Again and again. I need them to go there. I need them to ask the questions I can’t.No answer.They’re never around when you need them the most.I pace the house, back and forth, my hands tight at my sides. I keep thinking about Alice. I don’t know if I should call her. She deserves to know. She has to know.So I text her. I don’t delay. I explain everything as
The black shirt comes out first. The one he wore to the concert two nights ago. Then his glasses.My eyes sting. “Where is Dominic?” I ask, my voice breaking. “What does this mean?”My hands won’t move. I don’t touch anything. I don’t need to. I know that shirt. I know those glasses. I watched him put them on. I remember.“It’s just…” My voice dies in my throat.The officer stands. “We have reason to believe he may have been involved in a gang fight,” he says. “The investigation is still ongoing.”I stop breathing. The words don’t make sense. I shake my head. “That’s not true. Dominic is fine.” I say it again, softer. “He’s fine.”Alice doesn’t move.I reach for her shoulders. They’re stiff, like she isn’t even there. Her eyes stare ahead, empty.“My brother can’t be dead,” she whispers. Her body starts to shake. “Catherine, he can’t be dead. He’s all I have. He’s my only family. No. No.”I pull her into me. I hold her tight, even though my chest hurts and my legs feel weak. I don’t l
“Please, Uncle Zachary, drive faster.”The words tumble out of me—again. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said it already. My heart is pounding so hard it hurts, like it’s trying to claw its way out of my chest. The car speeds forward, trees and lanes blurring into streaks of green and grey, but no matter how fast we go, the dread won’t lift.We’re close. I know we are.Yet the feeling only grows heavier.Uncle Zachary keeps glancing at me through the rearview mirror, his mouth opening like he wants to say something—anything—but he doesn’t. Maybe he knows that even the smallest attempt at comfort would shatter me right now.This is my fault.Isn’t it?Since the concert last night, Alice hasn’t seen Dominic. His phone is switched off. He never came home. He hasn’t answered her calls. He hasn’t reached out to anyone.Where did he go after the concert?He was with Sasha the whole time. Maybe he’s still with her. Maybe he just needed space. Maybe he’s ignoring Alice—and everyone els
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