Buried secrets, two girls with the same face, and a boy who loved too much.
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When Travis and Nicole meet on a bus for the first time, he thinks she's his ex, Rachel, who broke his heart two years ago. But he doesn't understand why she's pretendin...
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I WOKE UP EARLY THE next morning feeling like shit. My dreams were filled with crying redheads dancing around a lake. Whatever symbolism that was was lost on me.
I spent an hour in the gym room lifting weights and jogging on the treadmill. Earlier, I'd caught a glimpse of my dad brewing coffee in the kitchen. I'd wanted to hurl a couch at his head.
I didn't let him see me because I knew whatever would come out of his mouth would send me raging. My lectures started at eleven, and I couldn't wait to leave.
Nellie was in her school uniform, standing in front of her vanity and applying mascara when I strolled into her room after I showered later. Huxley howled at my presence and tried to trip me over. Expertly, I stepped over him, sadly thinking of how my wicked little sister had succeeded in winning him over to the dark side.
"Why are you so bent on stealing my boy?" I cast Huxley a look of longing.
"Morning to you too, brother." Nellie finished her last touch and put her mascara away. "Yes, I had a good sleep; thanks for asking."
I chuckled as Huxley waddled over to Nellie's bed and propped himself on it. I sat on the bed, inching closer to him, but he shot me a look filled with contempt and shifted far, far away.
"Last night, I saw Raine's Snap story," Nellie was saying as she started packing books and pens into her backpack. "She was dancing, and from what I could gather from her caption, the dance coach at Hamilton High will be doing some eviction of those who don't measure up to her standards next week. She was reminding her team members to work hard."
"Oh." The full realization of what that meant hit me. Rebecca had said something like this, but I didn't know she had such a limited time.
It made me feel even worse for turning her down yesterday. But then I thought about how she'd quit easily the first time, and I got mad at her for wasting so much time when she didn't have enough of it to begin with.
"Is Raine their captain?" I asked.
Nellie hummed in response. "I've never seen a girl as scary as her." She slung her backpack over her shoulder and gave a teasing smile. "You do know she's crazy about you, right?"
Yes, I knew, and there was nothing I could do for her.
"Yeah, crazy about wanting to drive me insane with her scariness."
Nellie gave a lopsided grin. "Trust me, the only drive Raine intends to take you on is to ride you so hard you can't think straight."
My mouth dropped open with shock and a coil of ew. Why the hell was my baby sister spewing this dirt?
"You have two seconds to run out of here before I kill you," I warned.
"Come on." She laughed. "I'm sure she's probably staring at your window right now. She's so in love with you." She wiggled her brows mischievously and proceeded to sing in an annoying pitch, "Travis and the girl next door, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-ow!"
