First Kill
A Holly Lin Novella
Robert Swartwood
RMS Press
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Details can be found at the end of First Kill.
The Holly Lin Series
No Shelter
Bullet Rain
First Kill
The Devil You Know
Hollow Point
One
I’m seventeen years old and eight hours away from the moment that will forever change my life.
It’s nine o’clock, and I’m in the bathroom that connects my bedroom with my parents’ bedroom. There’s only one bathroom in this condo, which I’m not happy about, but at least we’re not on the base, so that’s something.
I’m standing in the bathroom, the overhead lights bright and harsh, staring at myself in the mirror. Little seventeen-year-old me, wearing short-shorts and a T-shirt and flip-flops. I’m not one to usually look at myself in a mirror for more than five seconds, but here I am, checking my makeup, checking my hair, making sure my look says “sexy,” not “easy.”
God do I hate myself at this moment.
A soft tapping sounds at the door on my parents’ side.
“Holly, are you in there?” my mother asks.
I freeze, not sure what to say.
Another soft tap. “Holly?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Tina’s on the phone. Would you like to talk to her?”
I pause. Tina? Why would my sister be on the phone? We couldn’t be farther apart. She’s in D.C. and I’m in Oahu, a five-hour time difference. Which means if it’s nine o’clock at night here, it’s two o’clock in the morning there.
I open the door just a crack, hiding my outfit from my mother’s scrutiny. I grab the phone from her hand and say, “Thanks, Mom,” and shut the door.
I stand motionless for a moment, waiting for another soft tap, but there’s silence. My mother stands on the other side of the door for several long seconds—I can sense her there on the other side of the wood, a worrisome ball of nerves—and then she shuffles away, no doubt out into the living room where she’ll plant herself on the couch and watch old movies and wait until my father comes home.
I place the phone to my ear. “What’s up, slut?”
Tina yawns. “I don’t understand why Mom doesn’t grasp the concept of time zones yet.”
“I’ve tried telling her.”
“It’s two o’clock in the morning here.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been out there now three weeks. I figured after the first week, Mom would catch on.”
“You’d think. Why’d you answer the phone, anyway?”
“I was already up.”
“It’s Friday night. What could you possibly be doing past two o’clock Friday night?”
There’s a teasing tone to my voice. It’s not the first time I’ve made it known I don’t believe Tina has any social life. It’s not true, of course (she has more of a social life than me), but it’s still fun to tease her.
Tina says, “I was on a date, if you must know.”
“What’s her name?”
“Ha ha,” Tina says dryly. “His name is Ryan. He’s a junior.”
“He sounds white. I bet he’s white.”
“And what if he is?”
“You’ll break Mom’s heart, that’s what. You know her dream is for you to marry a nice Asian boy.”
Our mother is Japanese American, our father Chinese American. Tina and I have never gotten the full story about how our parents ended up together, or why there’s an eleven-year difference between their ages (our mother older than our father).
“Speaking of Mom,” I say, “she’s such a fucking bitch.”
A moment of stunned silence on Tina’s end. “Um, what was that?”
“Sorry, just wanted to make sure she’s not eavesdropping.”
“Why would she eavesdrop?”
“I have a date tonight,” I murmur.
Silence on Tina’s end.
“Tina, are you there?”
“Sorry,” she says. “I was just checking the weather to see if Hell had frozen over.”
“Ha ha,” I say just as dryly as my sister had a minute ago.
Tina says, “Since when do you like boys?”
“I’ve always liked boys.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ve had boyfriends.”
“No, you’ve had boys who are friends. There’s a difference.”
Tina’s always been the pretty one. The friendly one. The one who all the boys want to flirt with. Me, well, the boys want to flirt with me too, but I’m more of a tomboy. A troublemaker. Someone who constantly has an “attitude problem.” I got suspended earlier this year for punching a senior in the face, breaking his nose. In my defense, he had grabbed my ass in the hallway, so I’d felt my response was warranted.
But when it comes to dating, well, I’d rather be hanging out with my guy friends than on some awkward date where all the guy wants to do is feel me up.
Except out here I don’t have any friends. All I have is my mom and my dad, and my dad is working half the time. Or no, I guess if I’m being honest, he’s working all the time.
“So,” Tina says, “what’s his name?”
“I’d rather not tell you.”
“Why not?”
I say nothing.
“Come on, Holly, you can’t leave me hanging like this. Dish.”
I know it’s a terrible idea, but I blurt out the name anyway.
“Chazz.”
A beat of silence on Tina’s end. “Say that again?”
“You heard me.”
“And is that with one Z or two?”
I sigh.
Tina giggles. “You’re joking, right? Oh no, of course you’re not joking. Chazz.” She bursts out laughing. “Mom is going to love that.”
“Good thing Mom’s never going to find out.”
Tina giggles again. “Oh yes, she is.”
“I hate you.”
“Where’d you meet this Chazz anyway?”
“On the beach.”
“Oh God. Don’t tell me he’s a surfer.”
I say nothing.
“No!” Tina mock-yells. “You are such a cliché, Holly Lin.”
“And you are such a bitch, Tina Lin.”
“He doesn’t have long hair, does he?”
I say nothing.
Tina sighs. “Please tell me he at least doesn’t wear his hair in a ponytail.”
I say nothing.
Tina snorts laughter. “You sure know how to pick them.”
“Says the girl who just had a date with some guy named Ryan.”
“At least Ryan’s a normal name.”
“You going to see him again?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. He plays lacrosse, and you know how I’m not
