Pepper never meant to lose her best friend. Lucas never meant to fall in love.
Yet the aftermath of broken hearts leads them to blur the lines of their friendship forever. When Pepper is dumped by her boyfriend and Lucas is led on by his crush, they...
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BY SUNDAY MORNING I've cried myself drier than a desert. Weakness crawls through my bones and hatred sets fire to the air in my lungs. I'm forbidden to see Mason. His parents think lowly of me because of my race. They separated us because of my race. They blame me for all of Mason's mistakes...because of my race.
It still doesn't register how they could lie to us. How could they treat our family so well, yet think the most disgusting things about us? They don't want my impure black blood mixed in with their pure Korean blood. Who says that? Thinks like that? I've never felt so alienated due to my mere existence before. It burns vomit in the pit of my stomach.
No race is pure. Everyone is mixed with something. Yet they looked at me as if my existence would taint Mason's.
Those people in that hospital room were unrecognizable to me.
A door eases shut across the hall from my bedroom. Heavy footsteps thud down the hardwood. My dad is leaving for work, which means I'll have Mom all alone. I bury my face in my sheets and squeeze my eyes shut.
I need someone to talk to. I have to tell her something.
As much as I want to talk to Lucas, it just won't be the same. Even though he told me otherwise, I know he doesn't want to hear about how much I love Mason and how devastating our situation is. He still wants to give us a chance. He still wants to be my boyfriend. If that's the case, it'll be simply impossible to talk to him about my feelings for another guy.
When the soft hum of Dad's Prius pulls out of our driveway, I kick out of bed and am peeking down the hall to Mom's room in a flash. The door is cracked and the light is off. Maybe she's still sleeping. Any other day, I'd creep downstairs and let her sleep in while entertaining myself. Not this morning. I simply can't hold things in any longer.
I run sweaty hands against the front of my t-shirt and tiptoe down the hall. The pad of my feet connect with the cool hardwood and create light thuds in the silence. Peering into her room fills my vision with darkness, but I can make out her shape curled up in bed. "Mamma," I whisper.
"Hng?" she grunts. Her figure shifts slightly beneath their sheets.
"C-can I t-talk to you?" The shakiness of my voice makes me cringe. The amount of emotion that seeps into my tone is appalling. I thought I cried all of those out, yet they come rushing back into me as if they never left.
She seems to hear the desperation in my voice and sits up almost abruptly. "Of course, hun'. Come here. What's wrong?"
I keep her bedroom light off, ashamed of my puffy eyes and tangled hair. She shouldn't have to see the mess I've become. Though my limbs and chest are shaking so violently, she might be able to tell anyway. Four steps in and I'm sinking into their massive bed and crawling over to her. The moment her soft hands touch my arms, I'm an embarrassing sobbing mess.
