Read Online Secrets and Lace: A Dark Romance Thriller (Fatal Hearts Series Book 1) by Dori Lavelle - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dori Lavelle
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Boca Raton with me. The last thing I wanted was for my problems to affect her. But she looked so expectant, waiting for me to respond.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “Mom, I think I'm in danger.”
Chapter Fourteen
My gaze wandered around the room, which was lit up by the bright morning sunlight filtering through the lace curtains. The curtains were the only new thing in my childhood bedroom. Mom had kept everything else the way it was before I had left. Even though she had neglected the rest of the house, she had kept my room clean. No dust or cobwebs in sight.
I felt horrible when I thought again of what she had gone through. How I had walked out of her life without knowing the full story. We had lost so much time together. I should have talked to her before leaving. Instead I had secretly applied to colleges without her knowledge and packed my bags. I couldn't get out of Misty Cove fast enough.
Then again, she wasn't the only person I had wanted to run from.
My gaze took in a poster of a blond teenage girl in a bikini—Mary Lewis, a famous singer back then. I remember putting up the poster, wishing I were her. Desperate for her looks, and her fame and fortune. Last I'd heard, the pressures of success had led Mary Lewis to the grave early. She’d overdosed on pills two years ago.
I climbed out of bed and went to the wardrobe. The multicolored butterflies were still stuck to the door. I had been drawn to butterflies as a child, an attraction born of the wish to be free, to fly away. Wishes did come true, but sometimes at a high cost.
The door squeaked when I pulled it open. The shelves and drawers were empty. Mom must have packed up my clothes and put them in boxes in the basement. An image of the way the wardrobe had looked with clothes inside pushed its way to the forefront of my mind—folded and arranged according to color. Through high school, the colors had evolved from dull and gray to colorful and bright. They had changed along with me. One moment I had been an invisible girl, the one who wore oversized and shapeless clothes to hide her unflattering figure. Until everything changed, and I was suddenly the girl everyone wanted to hang out with. My clothes and style changed along with my popularity.
The thing that had thrown me into the spotlight was the school newspaper. My articles had made waves, especially my column, StudeX, which was focused on revealing interesting facts about students’ lives, and sometimes exposing secrets. Since nothing was off-limits, before the column was launched, interested students had to sign a release form to be considered for a feature. They’d had no control over what would be written about them, and the journalism was done undercover. The sheer number of signatures we’d received had been astounding. The StudeX column went on to change some of my fellow schoolmates’ lives—along with mine.
I walked over to my desk, listening to the sound of vacuuming coming from downstairs. I bit my lip as I ran a hand over the pile of schoolbooks, and the old computer on which I had completed so many of my articles and homework assignments. The tips of my fingers brushed the scars in the wood of the desk. I noticed a tiny heart in the upper left-hand corner. Larry loves Kelly .
Larry had been that guy. The one every girl wanted to be with and every guy wanted to be. He was captain of the football team and just about the smartest guy in school. Coupled with his muscular chest and good looks, it was a killer combination. I’d pined after him all through high school, but I never thought he would notice me. Until he asked me to be his prom date. That was after my final StudeX feature, the one that made me the most talked-about girl on the last day of school. It also made me enemies. Secretly, I hated myself for what I had done, but the success had numbed the guilt, just as it did now with each new Sage cover story.
Before going downstairs, I gave Miles
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “Mom, I think I'm in danger.”
Chapter Fourteen
My gaze wandered around the room, which was lit up by the bright morning sunlight filtering through the lace curtains. The curtains were the only new thing in my childhood bedroom. Mom had kept everything else the way it was before I had left. Even though she had neglected the rest of the house, she had kept my room clean. No dust or cobwebs in sight.
I felt horrible when I thought again of what she had gone through. How I had walked out of her life without knowing the full story. We had lost so much time together. I should have talked to her before leaving. Instead I had secretly applied to colleges without her knowledge and packed my bags. I couldn't get out of Misty Cove fast enough.
Then again, she wasn't the only person I had wanted to run from.
My gaze took in a poster of a blond teenage girl in a bikini—Mary Lewis, a famous singer back then. I remember putting up the poster, wishing I were her. Desperate for her looks, and her fame and fortune. Last I'd heard, the pressures of success had led Mary Lewis to the grave early. She’d overdosed on pills two years ago.
I climbed out of bed and went to the wardrobe. The multicolored butterflies were still stuck to the door. I had been drawn to butterflies as a child, an attraction born of the wish to be free, to fly away. Wishes did come true, but sometimes at a high cost.
The door squeaked when I pulled it open. The shelves and drawers were empty. Mom must have packed up my clothes and put them in boxes in the basement. An image of the way the wardrobe had looked with clothes inside pushed its way to the forefront of my mind—folded and arranged according to color. Through high school, the colors had evolved from dull and gray to colorful and bright. They had changed along with me. One moment I had been an invisible girl, the one who wore oversized and shapeless clothes to hide her unflattering figure. Until everything changed, and I was suddenly the girl everyone wanted to hang out with. My clothes and style changed along with my popularity.
The thing that had thrown me into the spotlight was the school newspaper. My articles had made waves, especially my column, StudeX, which was focused on revealing interesting facts about students’ lives, and sometimes exposing secrets. Since nothing was off-limits, before the column was launched, interested students had to sign a release form to be considered for a feature. They’d had no control over what would be written about them, and the journalism was done undercover. The sheer number of signatures we’d received had been astounding. The StudeX column went on to change some of my fellow schoolmates’ lives—along with mine.
I walked over to my desk, listening to the sound of vacuuming coming from downstairs. I bit my lip as I ran a hand over the pile of schoolbooks, and the old computer on which I had completed so many of my articles and homework assignments. The tips of my fingers brushed the scars in the wood of the desk. I noticed a tiny heart in the upper left-hand corner. Larry loves Kelly .
Larry had been that guy. The one every girl wanted to be with and every guy wanted to be. He was captain of the football team and just about the smartest guy in school. Coupled with his muscular chest and good looks, it was a killer combination. I’d pined after him all through high school, but I never thought he would notice me. Until he asked me to be his prom date. That was after my final StudeX feature, the one that made me the most talked-about girl on the last day of school. It also made me enemies. Secretly, I hated myself for what I had done, but the success had numbed the guilt, just as it did now with each new Sage cover story.
Before going downstairs, I gave Miles
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