Avery Turner, a perfectionist with a double life, and Kyran Drake, a charismatic boy with secrets, find their fates intertwined when their secrets threaten to unravel their dreams-will they overcome their differences to protect their futures, or wil...
My favorite time of the day was when I was asleep; the night was peaceful; the darkness was a feeling beyond compare. There was usually no one to stop me from the quiet thoughts that calmed me throughout the night. There was a reason I didn't want to wake up—it was so much more beautiful to be in a realm where no one could judge me. I'm not implying that someone regards me as some sort of priceless treasure that should never be hurt, but I am the only me I have. I wanted to keep that—even when sometimes it felt like people could be right.
It almost felt wrong to be worried all the time; staring up at the ceiling instead of sleeping, thinking about anything and everything. It almost felt illegal, like I was doing something wrong. My mom's silent treatment could only be cured by two things. 1) Consistent apologies about something we did wrong and 2) Time. She was fine after at least a week of ignoring me when she finally realized that I was useful to her after all.
I chose a new approach—the poking method. I'd attempt to make conversation with her as much as possible and see what the real problem was. That should work.
It was the Saturday afternoon after I arrived, and the silence was almost too deafening. My sister was probably in her room watching something even though she had exams—that was the way she lived.
"Mom?" I called out once I got to the kitchen. She was making herself coffee, her first one of the day and she ignored me the first time. "Mom."
"What do you want?" she asked, and I sighed in relief. This meant she wasn't completely ignoring me because she was mad at me. She was more on the 'I don't want to talk to you, and would rather ignore I asked you anything' mood.
"You asked me to come back from the debate—"
She didn't answer and kept stirring her coffee with her metal spoon. For a few moments, the clang of the metal spoon was the only noise to be heard. She realized I was still standing there, my eyes fixed on her, waiting for a response. She finally looked up from her coffee, her eyes meeting mine with an expression I couldn't quite read.
"I asked you to come home because — " She paused, her voice icy. "You think your life revolves around yourself and your extracurriculars only? From today onwards, you are to be home by five. No more extracurriculars. If you were talented enough, Princeton would accept you without those."
There had to be more to this. She couldn't simply just...
No fucking way.
I stared at her, my mind racing. I blinked twice. I pinched myself in the arm. This wasn't just a bad dream, this was real. She was really just cutting me off from extracurriculars. "No more...no more extracurriculars?" I repeated, my voice trembling slightly. "Mom, no college accepts anyone without...any extracurriculars. Especially in my junior and senior years."
