“I couldn’t sleep.”
“He’s in jail now. It didn’t take the jury long to find his ass guilty, and he can’t hurt you anymore.” Sawyer whispered. “Dr. Green even found evidence that my dad was messing with your test results, so you’re immune system is just about back to normal.”
I nodded. “I know.”
I felt him stroke my hair.
“That’s just it. I’m free for the first time. For the first time, I’m able to figure out my life instead of being dictated to me.”
I tilted my head so that I could look into those eyes.
“It’s a lot to take in.”
I nodded. “I could finish school here with you, or I could get a job. I don’t need to be poked or prodded ever again. I don’t even have to attend another press conference. For once, I just get to be me, whoever I wanted to be.”
I smiled. “I’m glad.”
He leaned and connected our lips.
“So, what’s first on the agenda of the rest of your life?”
I grinned.
“Donuts.”
Sneak Peek
Against the Current
Awakenings 1
Coming 2021
Prologue
The bright, warm sun hadn’t been seen in days, and there still didn’t seem any sign of it coming back any time soon. The ground was dark and thick with mud. The clouds were bushy, dark as a steady breeze swept through the water and onto the beach. The world was covered in a grey haze. A pale, feminine figure stood alone on the edge of the cliff. The fog drifted around the ends of her dress. Water repeatedly smacked against the sharp, jagged edges of the rocks below her. The water splattered around. The woman’s gaze was steadily focused out towards the horizon, unmoved despite the weather. She was covered in a white linen dress with a thin white shawl draped at her elbows. Her light blond hair danced in the wind.
The young woman’s hand was a metal lantern that held a candle that dully licked the air behind the glass. Below, the woman waves gradually crashed against the murky, sandy shore. A gust of wind came towards the land. The woman took a glance over her shoulder before looking forward. The woman spread her arms wide, and the fabric fluttered about. She titled her head back and leaned forward.
1
Blair
Cardboard boxes sat nestled inside one of another in the corner of my room. A couple of layers of tape were poking up at the seams. The once black marker that had my name spread across the side was now a faint grey shade, stripped from the waves underneath the cardboard’s surface. They claimed this would be the last move for a while. If I had a dollar every time, I had heard that.
I plopped down on the bed as my eyes went around the grey room. It wasn’t the worst color a room had been when we moved in. The top was that pink room that had a green carpet. I kept telling mom I felt like I was living in a watermelon. She told me to stop being dramatic. That was until I taped little pieces of black paper on all the walls. When my mom came into my room later that day when she saw the watermelon, she took me that day to pick out a color to paint the room. I got to enjoy the color about a month before we were getting our orders to move again.
My mattress sagged slightly under me, and the worn material of the comforter was under my palms. It was an olive shade, so it wasn’t terrible against the grey. Things would kind of match until the next move. I was a junior in high school, and this was my tenth school. My eyes scanned the room. There were faded squares on the walls. I wonder what it was like to live somewhere long enough to leave memories on a wall.
“Blair! Can you come down and help with dinner?” my mom’s voice carried up the stairs.
Glancing around the room, I sighed. It was what it was at this point. Pushing myself off the bed, I dragged my feet out of my new room. Next to my room was the bathroom, then across from my door was the room my sisters were going to share. Their boxes were outside the door as I squeezed by. Their joyful screams traveled up the narrow hallway. Maybe I didn’t want to go that way. Hopping down the stairs, a wall of totes and cardboard greeted me. Winnie was sitting in the middle of the kitchen in her diaper and a shirt. Her caramel hair was in corkscrew curls, perched on top of her head with a tilted bow. Her round, blue eyes found me, and a wet smile spread across her face.
“Bee!” Winnie squealed, and she spread her arms out wide.
Thuds came from the side room. Persephone went into the room and was barefoot in a short sleeve, maxi dress. Her brown hair was tied back in a waist-length braid. There was a chocolate smile mustache on her face. The edge of my baggy jeans swung by my feet as I ruffled the top of Winnie’s head. Crossing my arms, my hands slide by my bare arms. My mom had her brown hair in a messy bun on the top of her head. She was in jeans and
