The Killjoy and Her Boy

[BEING REVISED: SLOW UPDATES]

Violet Mayre is about as far from normal as you can get and still be a human, seventeen-year-old girl. She hates romance, she hates sappiness, she hates horses and chocolate and glitter, and almost everything else. Actually, she hates almost everyone else, too.

For the most part during the summer, she sits and does nothing but listen to obscure folk bands and read books written by people no one knows about. After all--she hates sunburns and swimsuits. She hates going to the mall. Those things are for normal people.

So when her older sister enlists a boy to befriend Violet in a last-ditch attempt to get her out of the house, all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, there is a normal boy trying to get her to leave her room and do normal things, and it's all due to a traitorous decision made by her older sister!

Will Violet succeed in chasing this boy away? Or will he succeed in getting her out of her shell?

• | EXCERPT | •

"I didn't know you could be civil. Here's a reward for your good behavior."

And I kid you not, he pulled out his wallet and gave me a gold star.

"Congrats," he said, grinning teasingly.

"You cheeky bast--"

"--there are children present."

I could have died of spontaneous combustion, so great was the pressure that built up behind my lips. I wanted to say several things, but he wouldn't let me get away with it.

"Here's your tea, miss. And yours." The waitress was back, putting our drinks down. I noticed immediately that Jasper had tea just as I did.

"Thanks," I said.

"Do you two know what you want?"

"I'll take the harvest time meat platter. Wren?"

I pretended to study the menu. "Something sweet," I said at last. "To contrast all of the salt in this goat's system."

[Disclaimer: Not a bad boy story AT ALL.]

Gorgeous cover by @candeliers :D