A Beautiful, Terrible Love by Lucky 97 (books for 9th graders txt) 📖

used to be because you’ve been hiding behind sadness and a mountain of homework. At first, I thought you might be suffering because Grams died,” she noted, “but now, I think it’s because of Dex.”
“NO!” I yelled. Sadie grabbed my arm and twisted, making me moan in pain.
“Hear me out!” she said, pinning my arm behind my back. I screeched in protest. “I think you’ve been missing Dex. You haven’t had a single date in your life, even though I know Peter, our SCHOOL QUARTERBACK, is pining for you. Has he even asked you out yet?” I said nothing, and she frowned, but continued on. “I think this would solve all of your problems. Go to this concert with Delilah and me. Act like a crazed fan, which shouldn’t be hard for you,” she joked. I gave her an evil glare, “and I think by the end of the night you’ll be all Dex-ed out. Then you could go out with Peter!” she grinned triumphantly.
That’s true. Maybe if I go crazy this one time... I’ll finally be able to look at Peter and be satisfied. I would realize that Dex really isn’t the ideal guy. Maybe, at this concert, I could find a flaw that would let me out of the trap he’s caught me in.
I smiled slowly, and linked hands with my beautiful twin.
“Let’s do it,”

Chapter 2

“WHAT???”
“You heard me,” Sadie and I stood in our closet, me shrieking in terror and her smiling. “I will NOT have you looking like a pathetic slob at the concert. You need to wear this.”
Sadie held up a tight fitting purple dress with tiny sequins. It had a V-neckline, and a gorgeous necklace to go with the stylish dress. It was short, about mid-thigh, but not too bad. It would make me stand out, for sure.
I could not imagine wearing such an attention-grabbing outfit.
“I’m not sure, Sadie,” I said nervously. “What will you be wearing?”
“This,” Sadie held up a casual red dress which was plain and simple, except for a small slit in the side.
“Why can’t I wear that?” I asked angrily.
“He’s YOUR crush,” she pointed out, and I quickly fell in submission. Do this for Dex, I told myself fiercely, because tonight was the night. I was finally going to cleanse myself from him. I was finally going to be free.
I slipped on the dress, awed at how the dress fit me, marveling at the way the necklace was perfectly coordinated with the dress. I twirled, happily glancing at myself in the mirror.
“Okay, you can stop now, Cinderella,” Sadie said sarcastically. She grabbed my face and started to powder it, leaving me sputtering and gasping for breath.
“Sadie,” I coughed, “let me breathe!” She released me temporarily.
“We don’t have much time. The concert is in two hours!” she said hurriedly. She pushed me to a chair.
“We’re going to make you beautiful like me,” she murmured, grabbing my hair and the Straightener.
“Arrogant much?”
“Yup,” she laughed, “I’m just kidding, Eve. You’re much prettier than me. How else do you have a total hottie wanting you to be his girlfriend, when you dress like a total slob?”
“Not true, Sadie,” I protested.
“True,” she argued.
“Not,”
“True,”
“Not,”
“It IS true, and SHUT UP,” I shut up. We spent the next thirty minutes in complete silence. I could feel my eyes slipping, and I fell through the darkness into dreamland.
A few minutes later, I could feel arms shaking me. “Eve! Wake up!”
“What?” I groaned, yawning.
“You’re done, and just in time too. Delilah’s here!” She pulled me up. “Look at yourself. You’re gorgeous!” I looked in the floor-length mirror, stunned. Was that beautiful long legged girl really me? “Not that you weren’t pretty before,” she added quickly.
I hugged my twin. “Thank you Sadie!” I felt light, and happy. I was beautiful.
I glided down the steps and out the door, Sadie trailing behind me. We entered Delilah’s car, a pretty BMW that was shining, without a single flaw. “Wow,” Delilah commented, “You look great, Eve!”
“You do too, Delilah,” I replied. She really did. The name Delilah really fit her, with the way she wore heavy golden jewelry and gypsy-like clothes. Her makeup was always flawless, and achieved the smoky look models couldn’t even get. Her hair was super thick and a dark brown that was almost black. She was amazingly tan, also, leaving many girls jealous. Today, she was wearing thick golden hoops and a dark purple dress that was shorter than mine. That was one thing about Delilah; she was a little... more inclined to show cleavage or leg. We both still loved her though.
We drove along, and the radio switched to Dex’s hot new single, ‘I Believe In You’. It was a slow song, and we softly sang along, careful not to drone out Dex’s beautiful voice. I however, didn’t sing.
“Why don’t you ever sing?” Sadie asked me, still rocking along to the flowing music.
“I don’t know, Sadie,” I shrugged, “I guess I get a little embarrassed to sing in front of people. You know how I am,” Sadie nodded. She knew what lengths I would go to, to avoid getting up in front of a classroom. Those prying eyes, the unending stares... I shuddered at the thought. I hadn’t gotten up in front of the class since seventh grade.
“You might want to think about breaking out of that, you know,” she said softly. “Even I haven’t heard you sing. How do you think that makes me feel?” Delilah quietly switched off the radio. The car was filled with silence.
“I don’t know, Sadie. I guess I’ll sing for you soon,” I said reluctantly, “I just hate the idea of people staring at you, judging you based on your appearance. I hate the possibility that someone will have a bad opinion of me...” A single tear ran down my cheek. I’m sure Peter hated me, and he was one of the people I needed to like me the most.
Sadie pulled me in for a hug.
“There, there,” she soothed, “that’s just going to happen, Eve. Some people are not going to like you for who you are and that’s something you’ll never be able to change. But, I promise, for someone as likable as you, the people that like you probably far outnumber the ones that don’t,” Delilah nodded in agreement.
“Look, we’re there!” Delilah shouted. It was a huge dome-like building, crowded as could be. We eased to the front where the doors were. A huge sign saying Valet was there, deliciously tempting us. We wouldn’t have to search endlessly for a parking space. But right underneath the alluring word...
“Twenty-five dollars!” We shrieked in unison. I quickly searched my pockets.
“I have fifteen,” I announced.
“I have five,” Delilah said.
“I have...” Sadie murmured, “four.”
“WHAT!?” Me and Delilah screeched in dismay. Now, we were going to have to drive all the way back to the parking lot and….
“Ty,” she finished.
“You have forty dollars?” I asked wonderingly, “Wow, Sadie, you’re a lifesaver,”
“I know,” she said smugly. We paid the handsome valet guy, who was obviously enchanted by Delilah.
“Here,” Delilah slipped him a pink note, and quickly joined us inside the big double doors.
“What did you give him?” we asked.
“My number,” she said slyly.
“Wow,” I said, awed by Delilah’s ability to bewitch any guy she meets. Delilah touched my arm.
“You could charm anyone you wanted to too,” she noted. “You have the looks. Did you see that other valet man staring at you?”
“I gave that guy her number,” Sadie said triumphantly.
“What???”
“Just kidding,” Sadie laughed at my furious expression. “Come on, let’s find our seats.” I followed her, fuming.
The inside of the dome was colossal; the stage in the middle of a mass of seats. People were everywhere, either lounging in the comfy plush seats or talking to a group of people. There were a ton of girls our age there, and plenty below.
“Wow,” I said, “this place is big.”
“Dex has a lot of fans,” Delilah said simply. We continued in silence until we reached our seats. They were really close to the front, only a few rows back from the stage.
“How did we get these seats?” I wondered.
“Dad,” Sadie smiled. I knew what Sadie meant. Dad tended to order tickets and reserve rooms WAY ahead of time, therefore getting us the best seats or room.
“Wait, so you knew about this for... how long?”
“Three months,”
I was inches away from slapping her. “Sadie, how could you?”
“I was actually proud of myself for keeping it a secret for so long, but you HAD to ruin it,” she muttered sarcastically. I flopped in the seat next to her, not saying a single word. True, she DID do me a favor by not telling me about this escapade, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it.
“Come on, guys. Enjoy this!” Delilah said, trying to cheer us up. “It’s DEX. The most popular guy in America. Can’t you both be a little happier about it?”
“I guess,” I sighed.
“Okay,” Sadie agreed.
The lights dimmed, and the show started. Smoke filled the dome, flashing blue and green from the bright spotlights. Music started, pounding, stinging my ears. Bright sparks erupted spontaneously from around the room.
“Wow,” I whispered.
Then, a circle of fire shot up on the stage, awing the audience. It was over 6 feet tall, magnificent, the colors astounding. The fire changed gradually from red to green to blue, leaving us wondering. It was spectacular.
Dex rose above the fire, guitar in hand. He smiled, and waved to the fans. From this close distance, I could see the crinkle near his eyes, the warmth in his expression. His grin was genuine.
I smiled back.
“Let me hear some screaming later on, okay?” Sadie joked, obviously amused by my expression.
“Shut up, Sadie,” I said impatiently. Dex raised his hand to the crowd in greeting, then immediately launched into his song ‘Killer’.
I hummed along to the song, smiling at the way his voice and the music seemed to tango, always in perfect harmony, never doing the same exact thing. He was a talented artist.
The concert passed by blissfully. I soon found myself pulled to my feet by Delilah and Sadie, joining the thousands of others that were doing the same. We jumped to the music, laughing and smiling. This was wonderful. I had never felt so happy in the five years I had tried to get rid of Dex.
The concert came to Dex’s last few songs, and one of them happened to be ‘Release Me’, my favorite song of his, because it was a duet. He sang it with Richy Charles, who had a beautiful melodic voice. Their voices sounded amazing together.
“For this last one, one of my associates are going to pick a girl out of the audience to sing the duet with me,” The crowd’s roar grew as teenage girls screamed. I stayed silent. I didn’t want to be picked. I shut my eyes, waiting for the girl’s name to be announced...
A hand tapped my shoulder. “What, Sadie?” I asked in exasperation, opening my eyes. It wasn’t Sadie, but a man dressed in black. “Oh, sorry,” I apologized. The man had a nervous expression to him, and he was skinny and short.
“Please,” his unexpectedly deep voice startled me, “come,” Sadie and Delilah looked at me, wonderingly. I felt like I was in a daze. I followed him, and he led me to some steps leading up into the stage. “Walk up these,” he commanded.
I finally realized what the