Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 589(@200wpm)___ 471(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
We both giggle and I fall back dramatically onto her bed where an array of magazines rest with parts cut out of them. We’ve been creating a dream board of who we want to be when we’re older.
I want to be a famous actress and earn loads of money. Poppy wants to marry a wealthy man so she never has to work a day in her life. She decided this after she got a paper run two weeks ago but I took it over after three days because she couldn’t do it. She hated it. I don’t mind getting up early and doing the work, plus I love the money at the end of the week.
Plus Mee-maw lets me do it thanks to Grandpa stepping in to defend me, telling her that working teaches me good values.
Mee-maw wants me to marry into a wealthy family and raise my future babies. She said there’s no greater role in life for a woman than keeping her husband and home happy. I don’t want to be anybody’s wife.
I look at myself in the mirror after sitting up and flutter my mascara lathered lashes. The black tint really makes the hazel of my eyes pop. It almost makes them look green. I’ve always wanted green eyes, there’s no prettier eye color.
“Let’s go to the old bleachers,” Poppy whispers, an excited look in her eyes. They’re so big and wide, she looks like a cartoon. “Where all the big kids hang out.”
“Mee-maw will kill me,” I utter.
“She won’t know. We’ll go for like ten minutes tops. Let’s just go see what all the fuss is about.”
The thought does excite me. I’ve always wanted to go there. My brother goes there sometimes. I think that’s where he buys his marijuana joints. He still smokes those despite the fact Grandpa gave him the belt the last time he caught him smoking.
“What if Kane’s there?” I question, wanting to avoid him at all costs. He’s the only person I know who is mean to me. Even now after all these years he still does everything he can to make my life miserable and everybody says it’s because he likes me, but I don’t see it. I don’t want him to like me. He’s gross and dirty, and his hair needs a good comb through. His entire family are rotten and I don’t want to speak to any of them.
“If he’s there, we’ll go.”
“Okay,” I say after a brief moment’s deliberation. “Let’s go.”
She pumps her fist and bites her lip which makes me laugh, then we check ourselves over in the mirror again and head out before her mom can ask us where we’re going. It’s not lying if we don’t have to answer with a lie.
It takes us a while to get there because it’s so far out of town and for the first two-thirds of the way, we chat animatedly about how exciting this is. For the last third we talk about going home instead but I manage to convince her otherwise.
“We’re almost there I think,” I whisper as we head towards Buchanan river. I’ve never been but I know it’s around here somewhere.
We hear loud chatter and playful screaming the closer we get and sure enough we find ourselves fifty yards from a large group of teens all screwing around by the massive body of dark water. The sun will set soon, we shouldn’t have come here. Already I feel uneasy about it.
“Let’s go,” I say and Poppy nods, grimacing when somebody falls into the lake and everybody laughs.
We start to run back the way we came, panicking that we might get caught where teenagers are drinking beer and smoking weed. I can smell it in the air even from this far away.
Poppy grabs my hand as I start to run ahead, she’s not as fast as me so I pull her behind me.
I stumble on an empty glass bottle and fall to my knees, gasping and panting through the pain. Poppy helps me up and I test putting weight on my leg.
“Are you okay?”
I shake my head. “It really hurts.”
She cringes and my eyes follow hers.
“Oh no, my skirt,” I say, looking at the tear in the knee and the mud stain. My blood is starting to soak through too. My hearts starts hammering in my throat so hard I don’t hear bikes approaching, wheels spinning on the dry grass, chains turning around metal.
“SHOW US YOUR PANTIES, IMOGEN!” Kane yells, and I hit the ground again when his hand at my shoulder shoves me hard.
Three boys bike around us, Kane and his two friends, Ren and Mallick. Mallick is the only black boy in our entire town, I’m not allowed to talk to him but I don’t understand why. Still, I keep my eyes down.
When I try to stand again Kane climbs off his bike, dropping it without a care, strides towards me and pushes me over once more.