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Chapter 29
Keeping up the façade of being cool was easier once Beth found someone to take her to the mall. She decided it was a little ridiculous to ask the very girls she was trying to impress to give her a ride to buy all of the things she needed in order to do so, and asking her parents was out of the question. Her salvation had come in the form of her old friends, which was sort of ironic considering if Brittany hadn’t agreed to drive her, Beth would’ve had a harder time turning her back on the girls who were doing their best to help them.
Beth had spent nearly every penny of her savings, which was significant, since she had been collecting her scorekeeping money for years, along with cash from birthday and Christmas cards, a small allowance her mother sometimes gave her if she felt she’d been particularly helpful with her little sisters, blackberry money she’d gotten from selling the blackberries she’d picked in her grandmo
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Pretty Little Monster Chapter 30
It had been almost a week since she spoke to Ryan, even though he tried to get her attention every night since she returned from her escapade on Tuesday. As she put the final touches on her makeup Friday night, the clinking of rocks against her window began to annoy her, so once she was satisfied her eyes looked nearly the same as they did when Zoey did them, and she was otherwise ready to step out the door, she took a deep breath and opened her blinds. The pebbles stopped as she tugged her window open, and he was sitting there staring at her, a relieved look on his face.“What do you want, Ryan?” Beth crossed her arms and bent over so she could see without sitting on the floor, cursing her low framed windows.“Hey, Beth! Wow—you must be going out tonight.”“Yeah, I am. Soon. Did you need something?”“You, uh, look different.”She
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 31
Carly looked slightly annoyed as Beth flew down the sidewalk from her front porch to her new friend’s waiting Mustang. “Sorry!” Beth said, trying to sound only slightly apologetic. “I just couldn’t get my eyeliner straight.”“Oh, yeah. That sucks,” Carly agreed. “It looks great, though. Get in. We’ve gotta go get Amber.”Beth jumped into the front seat, trying to make it seem as natural as possible, like she belonged there, rather than in the back, or the trunk. She put her seatbelt on, and as Carly took off, she wished she had a couple more. This car had too much engine for such a tiny, inexperienced driver.“Your house is way pretty,” Carly said, stopping at the stop sign a block over, mostly in the intersection. “I didn’t know you lived there.”“Oh, yeah, thanks,” she said, trying to sound no
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 32
“He’s so hot,” Jessica muttered, and Beth was pretty sure she was actually salivating looking at Ryan, standing several parking spots over, with Halley next to him, chatting him up, touching his arm from time to time, like she thought he was the most fascinating person in the world.Beth felt sick to her stomach. Ryan had no idea what he was getting into. Not only did she not trust Halley as far as she could throw her, now all of the popular girls were talking about how gorgeous he was. He was safer locked up in his room, like Rapunzel in her tower. Now, he was out in the cruel world, where these bitches would tear his fragile heart apart. And there was nothing she could do to save him, either.The new Beth wouldn’t care, however. She needed to remember that. The new Beth would be happy to mingle with the other kids, maybe give a tad bit of attention to the new guy, but mostly set her sights on the more popular g
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 33
After about a half an hour of listening to her new friends gush all over every word Ryan said, Beth decided she’d had enough. She excused herself and headed over to another group of people. Tiffany was there, along with Mindy, and Shane was, too, but he was a few feet away, having an animated discussion with Marcus about some pro baseball player. Mindy was hanging off of Kyle, a new development, and every time she laughed, Beth wanted to jab her fingers far enough into her ears so that she could poke her own brain. But she had to ignore that urge and join in with them like she belonged there. Almost immediately upon her greeting them, Sammy took a few steps over so that he was also in the group, Robby following along like a puppy dog. Beth turned to see where Michael had gone off to and saw him join the conversation she had just left, leading her to believe he was avoiding her. She couldn’t really blame him for that, could she?She hadn&rsquo
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 34
The sounds of several vehicles disturbed the wild life, and a few birds went flying into the sky, their feathers ruffled at the intrusion. Carly turned toward the creek, pulled her car up to the tree line, and cut the engine. They all piled out, though Beth had to infuse each movement with an enthusiasm she no longer felt. Shane’s loaded car came in a few seconds later, and soon laughter and music filled the night. She watched Michael’s truck amble up the road, could see Ryan and Halley laughing about something while their driver’s face was solemn. Michael must’ve felt like she did, like maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Several more cars turned in before she saw Sammy’s dad’s sedan. The boy she’d had a crush on for so long was alone.The music was coming from Tyler’s jeep, and it was loud. Beth liked Alice in Chains, but she wasn’t sure she needed to hear the band inside of her brain. Tyler, a lou
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 35
The inside of his parents’ sedan smelled a lot like the old people at Beth’s church. Musty, perfumed, and nearer death than anyone wanted to think about. She almost pulled her shirt up over her nose, but when Sammy slid behind the wheel, she could see that whatever he wanted to say to her, he was very serious.“Beth… something happened to me the last time I was out here.”“What is it? You got taken advantage of by a pretty little bitch, and now you think there’s something I can do to make you feel more like a man?” She had her arms folded, and her words came out sharp. She hadn’t even realized how much animosity she’d been harboring about the whole thing, but it was clearly there when she finally spoke about it.“I guess I deserve that,” he said, which wasn’t what she expected. “But, no, that’s not what I meant. I think maybe Hal
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 36
Beth came to standing, staggering a bit. She took a few steps backward and collided with Michael’s truck, spilling the beers all down the front of it. She was slightly shocked that it seemed a lot foamier than she expected, almost like it was soda instead of beer, but then she turned back to Ryan, who still had ahold of her, and fury raged with in her again. “Let go of me!” she shouted. “I don’t need your help, Ryan Wilson!”“Beth! I was just making sure you were okay.” He let go of her immediately but then cocked his head to the side, studying her like he didn’t even know who she was. “Are you… drunk?”“Hell, no, I’m not drunk!” she proclaimed. “And I’m capable of making my own decisions.”“Did you want me to leave you in there with handsy then? I could hear you telling him to leave you alone. I guess nex
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 37
Everyone wanted to know what Amber James’s house was like on the inside, but no one as much as Evelyn Monroe, and after spending a good hour answering her mother’s questions, Beth had spent another two or three on the phone with her other friends, telling them everything that had happened. She’d left out the part about Michael talking to Amber, though. It seemed silly to alarm Lexy over something that hadn’t really been much of anything at all.She’d just hung up the phone with Andi when her mom shouted at her to come downstairs. Thinking she probably just had some chores she wanted her to do, Beth groaned and pulled herself up off of the floor where she’d been camped out most of the morning. She was shocked to see Ryan standing by the front door, a friendly smile on his face.“Hi, Beth,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “My mom said I could come over for a little while, if you’r
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