Love Again by Marisa Maichel (top young adult novels TXT) 📖

seriously until one day, Laci 'accidentally on purpose' spilled boiling milk on her.

 

Mary had to go to the nurse and miss practice. She was so mad, she spilled paint all over Laci. Red paint. And she put the letter A on Laci's chest. Everyone knows Laci is a slut, but she begs to differ. She started a rumor that Mary was pregnant with Kavin's baby. That turned out to be true. Mary was pregnant, but no one knows for sure if it was Kavin's or not.

 

The day school was out, a huge party was thrown in the woods behind the school. Something went wrong. Everyone's drink was spiked, and everyone got drunk faster than we'd planned."

 

"You were there?" I asked.

 

"Yes, I was there. I never miss a party. Anyways, next thing we knew, the cops were dragging Mary's dead body out of the pool. Laci and Kavin were back together. The cops think either the slut or the ho drowned Mary, but neither of them confessed.

 

And that summer, Laci learned she was pregnant with twins. She gave them to a family and has open adoption. The babies, I think they're girls, live in Louisiana. Anyways, Laci has never missed a date scheduled with them."

 

My arms were shaking. "And they're Kavin's?" I asked.

 

"No one knows for sure except Laci. And she won't tell anyone." she said. My arms still shook. Tears were forming in my eyes, but I couldn't let Lucy see them. I liked Lucy, but I couldn't trust her. She was still the most popular girl in our grade, and she'd just told me that Kavin might have children. With Laci, of all people.

 

 

Mom pulled out the futon for Lucy to sleep on. She was staying for a couple nights while her parents were away on business. Her parents own Sophia Cosmetics. They make everything beauty-wise. Which means Lucy gets discounts on beauty supplies, and some stores give it to her for free.

 

Now she was showing me all the latest, including a red lipstick called Chloe.

 

"You should wear it to school on Monday," she suggested.

 

"I don't know. I'm going to break up with Kavin."

 

"And you want to look not as attractive?" she asked.

 

"Yeah. How should I wear my makeup?"

 

"No lip gloss or lipstick. Less eyes makeup than usual, no mascara. No foundation or blush. Wear your hair in a loose ponytail. Your hair has crazy volume. How did you do that anyway?"

 

"I use Crazy Woman Volume Shampoo and Conditioner."

 

"Don't wash your hair Monday morning. Don't tease your hair. Let it fall naturally." she said.

 

I Hate Saturdays

I knew I had to do it. But how? And when? I had never broken up with anyone before. How was I going to do it now? I knew he had a painting club after school. Maybe that would take his mind off things.

 

I decided to call him later that night and tell him.

 

"Hey cutie. What's up?" he asked cheerfully.

 

"I heard this..." I took a deep breath.

 

"You heard what?"

 

So I told him the rumor about him, leaving out the person who told me. When I finished, he sighed.

 

"Only half of it is true. Yes, I dated that girl, and yes, I may have impregnated her. I don't know for sure if I'm the father of that baby. I don't think I'll ever know."

 

"Why don't you get a DNA test done?" When I said it, I wanted to take it back. He sighed again.

 

"She was not far enough along. I don't know how she died. I promise you, Brook, I know nothing about that night or what happened at that party. She and I had just broken up. She tried to get me back multiple times afterward. The last time I ever spoke to Mary. She was my world. But she had some personal issues that I couldn't deal with. I regret that now. I wish she had never died, then we could still be together."

 

His last sentence of that conversation bothered me, so I said good-bye and hung up without telling him I loved him. In fact, the whole thing bothered me. If Kavin was the killer, I didn't want to be the next dead girl. I needed a break. I went outside and started reading Sense and Sensibility. It was required reading anyway. I needed to read the first five chapters.

 

 

 

 

I became so engrossed in the story, I was shocked to see Reid on his front porch, smoking a cigarette. He was watching me, though he tried to act like he wasn't. I heard my cell phone ring. I looked at it. It was an unknown number. I put it back in my pocket. Reid was openly staring at me now. And to my horror, he actually got up and started walking towards me!

 

I didn't know what to do. Could I run? I would be a coward to run, plus it wouldn't do anything except encourage him to find me later. I decided to keep reading the book.

 

"Hey." he said. When I didn't answer, he said "Hey," again.

 

"Brook, I know you're ignoring me. Please let me talk to you. I don't like Kavin. Not because I'm jealous of him, but he gives me a bad feeling." he said. I got up and went back inside. My cell phone rang again. This time it was Jane.

 

"Where are you?" she asked.

 

"Inside my house. Why?"

 

"Turn onto CNN. Fast!" she said. I did as she ordered me to do. I saw a black car being chased by several police cars.

"What's going on?" I said out loud. My mom appeared at my side with tears in her eyes.

 

"Oh, Brook...it's...it's..."

 

"Mom, she has to see for herself." Brigid interrupted.

 

"I have to see what for myself?" I cried. Mom pointed at the television.

 

"And now you see that the police are chasing him down I-70 at enormous speeds. This kid is not giving up." the narrator said.

 

"Kavin Bester is accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend Mary Vanderwaven, who was drowned in a pool at a high school party. He's not the driver, he's the passenger. The driver is Laci Jefferson, who has a criminal history of prostitution and underage drinking and drugs. She just slid over a pedestrian! She is not giving up. Oh! Kavin jumped out of the car! While he's being treated for possible injuries, Laci is going through traffic at a hundred and ten miles per hour."

 

I couldn't watch anymore.

Kavin VS. Reid- My Emotional State

Conveniently, Hilary Duff's "Wake Up" was playing. I collapsed on the bed and let it all out. "Beautiful Soul" by Jesse McCartney was next. It was true. I didn't want to waste my love on people who kept hurting me. Kavin and I were "So Yesterday".

 

 

It was going to hurt deeply, but I had to break up with him. So I did it. I called and left a voicemail asking him to call me back. I listened to music. "Never Again" by Kelly Clarkson. "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5. It seemed that all the songs I heard that day were played just for me. I thanked the Lord for that.

 

Several hours later, I realized that I'd fallen asleep. I got up and looked at myself. I was a mess. Dried makeup ran down my face in trails. I heard a knock at my door. It was Brigid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two hours later, I was at Club Taki. I was in a shimmering yellow dress and in high heels. My lips were painted with red and my eyes were heavily madeup. I was sipping a virgin cocktail while Brigid was chatting up some cutie across the room. Jane was, as usual, working on her playlist on her iPod Nano. Khloe was working on her flirting skills with a poor drunken soul. I was waiting for Lucy. Tonight, Jane and Khloe would finally meet Lucy for the first time. Lucy and I had become really close.

 

Pure ecstasy rumbled around the room. Seriously, the drug was infecting people's brains. A brawl suddenly broke out right next to me. Someone gently led me away.

 

"Wow." Lucy said. The brawl was quickly broken up and the aggressor was kicked out.

 

"This must be Lucy." Jane said, coming over to us.

 

"Yep, she is." I answered. They shook hands and Jane complimented Lucy on her bronze-colored dress. They hit it off quickly. Khloe came over next and introductions were promptly made. Brigid had already met Lucy, but she came over anyway.

 

"What happened to what's-his-face?" I asked her.

 

"His name is Ben." she said with a flip of her hair. "And he tried to smell my breath."

 

"He really tried to smell your breath?" Lucy asked.

 

"Yeah. I said 'If you want to smell my breath, you have to kiss me first.' He said 'I never kiss anyone without smelling her breath first." she said. I looked over her shoulder and saw Ben kissing another guy. I didn't mention it for Brigid's sake.

 

I saw a familiar face walking toward me. Reid.

 

Dammit!

 

I turned back to my sister. "Pretend you're talking to me!" I ordered.

 

"But we are talking to you," Lucy told me. Then she looked over my shoulder.

 

"Oh, crap. Brigid, your sister's ex-boyfriend is a pain in the neck."

 

"Tell me about it!" Brigid replied. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder. I shut my eyes quickly and tried to pretend I was somewhere else.

 

"Brook." he said.

 

"Fuhget it, player. She made herself pretty clear." I heard Khloe's voice say.

 

"I just want to talk to her." he told them. I opened my eyes.

 

"Just talk." I let him know.

 

 

He led me to a private room that was probably for private parties.

 

"You look cute in that dress." he said.

 

"I know." I told him. I started twirling my hair nervously. Familiar butterflies took residence in my stomach.

 

"I heard you turned fifteen." he said.

 

"Yeah, so what? It wasn't a big party or anything. Just some gifts from the girls, a day at the spa, a night with Jane and Khloe at my house, and some pizza."

 

"I thought Jane was a vegan."

 

"She makes exceptions from time to time."

 

"Well, it sounds like you had a good time. Who's the blonde chick?"

 

"My new bestie Lucy."

 

He nodded and looked down.

 

"You know, I totally regretted breaking up with you the way I did." I sighed.

 

"Not now, Reid."

 

"Yes, now, Brook."

 

"I'm never trusting you again."

 

"I'm not asking you to trust me, I'm asking you to give me another chance. Please, Brook." He gave me a look that he used to give me when he wanted something from me. I shook my head, turned to the right, and saw...Kavin. His fists were clenched, and