The humid summer air, with it’s traces of fresh water and wildflowers, had always been my favorite. It was especially fragrant here, in the field of golden grass I often visited.
Even as I sat on the thick quilt I had brought along, I longed for the feel of the grass beneath my feet. Rummaging through my bag, I pulled out a cherry-almond croissant I had saved from my bakery.
After all the years, it was still up and running. The new management was a feisty girl named Kiara, whose pastry experiments often turned out incredible.
This place had once been secret, but as I watched the children laugh and play, I couldn’t bring myself to regret sharing this place with them.
A piece of the purest happiness I had ever experienced, countless memories full of it—all of which were made here.
There were six of them, three boys and three girls, darting through the grass with earsplitting grins on their faces. Some were missing a few baby teeth; others were c
I wanted to thank you all so much for reading. Through the ups and downs, Im proud of the novel I wrote. Even with its imperfections, the fact that so many of you enjoy my work, it means the world to me. For the first time, Im doing what I love and its a feeling everyone deserves to have. I plan on writing so much more for you all, and I hope to improve each time <3.
We pulled up to the rickety old house, and I felt a twinge of excitement that echoed within the sea of melancholy I had been feeling lately.The house was by no means new or luxurious, but it was much more than I had anticipated.We moved from California, where we had a two bedroom apartment in the worst part of town. Walking to work each day had become a constant nightmare. While I was thankful to move, I couldn't help but expect the worst.I've lived with my mother and her husband for three years now, and to say I hate it is an understatement. I was raised by my amazing grandmother for most of my life, but unfortunately she died a few years back. The only other relative able to take me in was my mother.'Melissa', she insists I call her. As though I'm just some child she found on the street.Melissa and I have a non-existent relationship, which means she pretends I don't exist and I stay out of the way. The issue lies in her husband. Frank likes
I woke up to the sound of my old alarm clock. It was six in the morning, leaving me with plenty of time to get ready and walk to schoolMelissa would already be at work, and Frank typically slept in until 11 a.m or later.I crept out of my bedroom and into the bathroom, making as little noise as possible. Frank was an absolute nightmare if you woke him up.I went into the bathroom and combed my long chocolate brown hair. Everyone on Melissa's side of the family had extremely light blonde hair, making me stand out even more. I also have this rare condition called Heterochromia Iridum, making my eyes two different colors. While my left eye was an incredibly light blue, my right eye was a deep chocolate brown.My grandma would rarely ever speak of my father, but when she did she would mention he also had the same condition.l had a feeling that was why Melissa didn't like me, my own mother. Something bad happened between her and my father, resulting i
"And you're sure you don't mind?" I sighed, looking at Tori with shameful eyes.Tori scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Of course not. We work the same days anyway, I'd just have to come in thirty minutes early." Tori shrugged.When Tori found out I planned to walk thirty minutes to and from work, she insisted to giving me a ride everyday. I wasn't used to people wanting to help me, so the gesture made me feel like crap."Let me at least give you gas money every week." I frowned, fidgeting with the tight uniform we were forced to wear.While my Saturday was spent completing the project Alec and Kade refused to do, today was Sunday and my first day of work.The first half of the day was rather slow, but the people in this town seemed to tip well. I seemed to fare well, only spilling things on myself rather than everyone else.I was thankful the uniforms consisted of a black t-shirt with the restaurants logo and a pair of tight black slacks. All of
I clocked out of work after making quite a bit of money from tips alone. It would definitely help replenish some of the money I had spent on clothes and necessities.While I was happy to be free from work, going home was another situation entirely.When Tori dropped me off, Melissa was still at work for another hour. That left me alone with Frank.I knew he was completely shit-faced the second I walked through the front door.He sat in the recliner watching some fuzzy football match on the TV. His face contorted in anger and I sighed."Where the fuck have you been?" He spat, struggling to lift himself off the recliner.I tried not to roll my eyes, knowing it only pissed him off more."Working, Frank." I repeated myself for the hundredth time.I turned to walk up the stairs and escape his drunken tirade when something he said had me turning back around."Working?" He scoffed, wobbling as he stood from the recliner. "You w
My next class featured Alec, Tori, and Grace.I was beginning to have a love hate relationship with this particular class.It wasn't all bad because I got to sit next to Tori, which kept Alec from tormenting me. The downside was Grace and her friends would constantly throw insults my way. For someone who acts like their bulletproof, her insults sure hurt a lot.I had been dreading Gym class all day. We were split between Volleyball and Basketball for the next month or so.Sports have always been challenging for me. And as funny as it sounds, the ball always seemed attracted to my face.I chose the option that didn't include Alec or Kade, which was Volleyball. Much to my dismay Grace happened to choose Volleyball as well.My options weren't looking too great. Pick Basketball and suffer the intruding touches of the twins, or Volleyball and suffer mean comments from Grace.I'd choose mean comments any day.While the medium sized g
The car ride was awkward and silent as Tori flashed me suspicious glances."You were awful red when I found you in the hall." Tori raised her eyebrow at me.I wanted to tell her the truth, but I knew nothing would come of it. If these twins were really as 'untouchable' as everyone claimed, what good would it come?I was still completely torn about what actually happened. They had touched me against my will, kissed me against my will. If it was all against my will then why did I enjoy it so much? Why did some part of me want this to happen again?I chalked it up to reasonable insanity and due to the fact the twins were irresistibly hot.After claiming innocence a million and one times, Tori reluctantly stopped interrogating me.I navigated the house carefully, nearly jumping for joy when I saw Frank snoring on the recliner.I flopped down on my bed after finishing some homework and touched my head angrily.It wasn't even sore an
"What the fuck is this?" Kade snarled, his rough hand wrapped around my wrist.I leaned over the table uncomfortably while Kade and Alec glowered at the fading yellow bruise that stained my pale skin."It's a bruise." I snapped, trying to yank my arm away from the two of them.Kade's eyes hardened at my defiance and a yelp escaped my lips as Kade roughly pulled me onto his lap."What are you doing?" I hissed, feeling my face flush under the glances of the other customers. "I'm at work!"I'm at work? Was that really the best I could come up with. I pushed my embarrassing comment to the side, knowing it would keep me up at night."Our family owns this place, no one cares doll." Alec's full lips turned up in a smirk but his eyes remained hard."Get off of me, Kade." I hissed, trying to squirm out of his ironclad grip."You might want to stop doing that, sweetheart." Kade chuckled lowly in my heart.A deep rumble emerged fro
After my pointless conversation with Melissa, I hopped in the shower.My body refused to put me out of my misery and allow me some restful sleep.Instead, I laid awake staring at the chipped ceiling mulling over what Alec and Kade had said to me.How could they possibly think I belonged to them? I had just started school here, and I hardly even knew them. Yet they claimed I belonged to them, as if they had known me forever.It would've been easier to ignore the twins if I wasn't feeling this annoyingly strange connection to the two of them. Sure, they were drop dead gorgeous but some innate part of me wanted to be around them. It was as if my instincts were pushing me closer to them while the logical side of me pulled away. Nonetheless, my body seemed to react on it's own under the twins touches as if it wanted to be claimed by them.I had no choice but to go to school the next day. Melissa had a day off and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck