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Chapter Eleven
Beth couldn’t see anything out the window from this angle except a dark street through the branches of her mother’s prized redbud tree.
Ryan stealthily stood and crept to his front window, flipping off the lamp by the side of his bed as he did so, leaving his room in near darkness, except for the glow from his aquarium in the back corner. His room was only half the size of Beth’s but still ample sized for a teenage boy.
She heard more giggling, though it seemed to be fading away. Beth reminded herself that she was no longer afraid of the dark or what might lurk there and waited patiently for Ryan to drop the shades and return. He turned his light back on and took a seat, taking his time to reveal what he’d discovered, from Beth’s perspective. “It’s Olive and Johnny.”
“What?” Beth craned her neck back out the window, unable to believe what she was hearing from
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Pretty Little Monster Chapter 12
A thousand stars filled the sky directly above her head and despite the uncomfortableness of Brittany’s windshield digging into the back of her head, Beth was happy to be out in the solace of the woods next to Muddy Creek. The scene on the square had been too much, and her friends had decided this was a better location to spend their Saturday night, despite the fact that Lexy had practically needed to be peeled off of the window as she drooled over Michael’s truck parked two cars over. Their location was across town, near to where the creek broke off from the bigger Spring Creek, and out here in the woods, it was easy to lose oneself in nature and forget about everything else. Almost.“It’s not… the end of the world,” Brittany offered, sitting next to Beth. Andi and Lexy were sitting on the bumper, which had to have been made of corrugated steel the car was so old. &ldq
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 13
Before the girls could pile back into the car, the sound of an engine behind them on the road had them all swiveling around. It was followed by another, until at least four, maybe five more vehicles were parked nearby. Clearly oblivious to the four girls huddled around the late model Ford, a stream of laughing teens poured from each car, and Beth recognized many of the voices.“Did they follow us?” Lexy asked, quietly.“No, dumbass,” Andi admonished, shaking her head. “We are on their turf now. This is where they come to party.”“You knew that, and you let me drive out here anyway?” Brittany asked. “Does your uncle, the sheriff know that?”Andi shrugged, and ignoring her question, replied, “You can thank me later.”“Huh?” But before Andi could answer Brittany’s inquiry, she realized Kyle was amo
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 14
Lexy had no younger brothers or sisters, so she was the best choice for sleepovers, especially since her parents’ bedroom was in the back of their expansive one-story house, and Lexy’s room was near the living room, toward the middle of the house. It didn’t hurt that she had her own bathroom, and her older sister was away at college, so they were generally undisturbed and it didn’t bother her parents if they stayed up super late making macaroni and cheese with music playing on the radio while they slumped on the sofa, as they were doing the night of Halley’s revelation that she was the enemy.Beth stared at her half-eaten bowl of pasta and fought the urge to vomit that had been testing her will power and gut strength all night long, ever since she’d first seen Sammy and Carly together, something that, in retrospect, didn’t seem so bad now that she had seen him with Halley.“It’s not
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 15
Lexy’s parents had let them sleep in so that by the time Beth got home the next day, it was past noon, and her family was already back from church. “Did you have fun at Lexy’s church?” Evelyn asked as Beth dragged herself to the stairs.“Uh, yeah, it was great,” Beth lied. She wondered why her mom even cared. It’s not like she made her go to church with her own family every Sunday.“I sure hope you didn’t wear that,” Evelyn muttered as Beth pulled the door to the stairs open.Beth glanced down at her cut-off jeans. “No, I changed. We went back to Lexy’s house to get our stuff. I didn’t want to wear a dress all day.”“Good idea. Although, maybe you should consider changing your outfit for batting practice. Those shorts aren’t exactly flattering on your backside.” Evelyn made the comment and then headed
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 16
Batting practice started at 2:00, but when Beth and her dad pulled up at 1:45, the cages were abandoned, only the kid at the window, a fellow sophomore named Hugh that Beth only sort of knew, was the other soul present. “You wanna take a few pitches while we wait for the guys?” Richard asked as Beth took a seat on one of the benches. There really was no reason for her to be there at all, but her dad liked for her to come so that if none of the other coaches showed up, he’d have someone to make comments to. He had no idea her previous trips had all been made in order to take advantage of an opportunity to stare at Sammy.“You want me to get in there and hit a few pitches? Are you crazy, Dad? I haven’t played ball since I was four.” Beth had scarring memories of being awful at tee-ball, of skipping around the outfield collecting flowers and not paying attention to the game at all, of knocking the tee over every time she
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 17
Even though the sun was hanging lower in the sky than it had been during the sweltering batting practice, it was still hot, and Beth thought the asphalt beneath her sneakers might melt with each step. Still, Ryan was so thrilled to be out of the house, she walked along beside him without complaining, watching him kick a rock he’d retrieved from the pull in parking that lined the street in front of their house. He gave it a swift blow with the side of his foot and it skittered across the street. He immediately began to look around for another.He continued ambling that way for a few minutes, and they hadn’t made it far from their houses, which were still in eyesight if she glanced over her shoulder. “Where should we go?”“I don’t know. We could walk over to your grandma’s place. I haven’t seen her in ages.”Beth calculated how long it usually took her to walk to her
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 18
“So, what else happened at batting practice? Anything interesting?”Considering she wasn’t particularly happy with him at the moment, she was tempted to just say no. But there was something. Something she could use his opinion on. “Well, Michael may have asked me out.”Ryan stopped walking and turned to look at her, his eyebrows raised so high, she thought maybe they might tangle with his bangs. Was it so hard to believe that anyone would ask her out? Maybe she had misunderstood what Michael had meant.“Michael Splinter?”“Yeah.” It was her turn to keep walking while he stood melted to the asphalt. “Or maybe he didn’t.”With his long legs, Ryan was caught up to her in a second. “What did he say?”“He said we should hangout sometime. Or asked if I wanted to hangout sometime. Som
Pretty Little Monster Chapter 19
Beth stormed up the front porch steps and jerked the door open, flying inside and slamming it behind her. Her mother’s astonished voice calling her name from the living room didn’t garner a response as she sped to the stairs and headed up them, tripping halfway up in the near dark and cursing.“Hey, my sister must be home. The floor’s shaking.” Shane’s voice carried out of his open bedroom door, followed by giggling that must’ve come from Tiffany.“Shut up, Shane, you jackass!” Beth screamed as she ran into her room and slammed the door.“What did that bitch call me?” she heard him ask.“Oh, leave her alone,” Tiffany’s voice called through the wall. “She can’t help it. She’s just… Beth. Don’t you feel sorry for her?”Hot, angry tears stung her cheeks as she realize
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