Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
I tucked the tickets back in the bag and placed it on the table.
“Thanks for getting me a ticket too,” Bowie said, reminding me he was still there.
I managed a smile and nodded. Usually, I’d have a comeback or a snarky remark to make him laugh, but right now, I had nothing. Kye took the skirt that Maegan had slipped off, and his eyes slowly scanned her body. I didn’t wear bikinis. My blue one-piece swimsuit wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention.
“Come on! Grab a water gun, and let’s go,” Bowie said as he slapped my back, then headed toward the course behind Kye and Maegan.
Tonight, it would just be the three of us. I could share them until then.
Kye—Thirteen Years Old
“I can’t believe you invited Briar Decker,” Bowie said, shaking his head at me while I laced up my tennis shoes.
“Why? She’s fucking hot,” I said, glancing up at him. “Not to mention, she has the biggest tits in junior high.”
Bowie gave me an annoyed look. “You were making out with her best friend just last week. That’s why.”
I shrugged, standing up. “We weren’t dating or anything. Just messing around.”
Bowie could be a judgmental fuck. Just because he got all serious about the girls he liked didn’t mean we all had to be that way. My dad sure as fuck wasn’t that way.
“HEY!” Genesis shouted.
I looked over at my window to see her leaning out of her bedroom window, almost directly across from mine. Genesis’s long brown hair hung over one shoulder. I noticed the lighter highlights in it. That was new. Had she gone to a salon? Surely not. The idea was comical. Must be the way the sun was hitting it, making it look like chocolate with caramel streaks.
“Open the window,” I told Bowie.
He leaned over and pushed it up. “What’s up, Baby Doll?” he called out just to piss her off.
Only I got away with that nickname. We both knew I was her favorite.
“Bowie, I will break your nose,” she shouted, making me smirk.
I liked that she didn’t want anyone else calling her that name.
I had started calling her Baby Doll when she was seven years old after falling out of the tree in my backyard and breaking her arm in two places. She’d acted all badass, then—bam!—ruined my birthday party. Truth was, it scared the fuck out of me. I thought she was dead. Lying there, all crumpled up. She had been determined to prove to us that she climbed trees and not played with baby dolls. She’d climbed the damn thing all right.
Grinning, I walked over to stop them before they started fighting. They had been doing that a lot lately. It was weird.
“You ready?” I asked her.
She stood back and held up her arms in question. “Yeah, is this okay?”
Why was she asking me if what she was wearing was okay? We didn’t talk about her clothes, and she didn’t care about shit like that. Genesis would rather be comfortable. She wore jeans with rips and her favorite Chucks most of the time. Today, she was wearing a short sundress though. That was strange. She looked like a girl. If she wasn’t my best friend, then I’d go as far as saying she looked hot. But this was Genesis. She wasn’t a hot girl. She was … well, she was Baby Doll—the girl next door, the center of our trio.
“Yeah, sure. Come on over. We are heading downstairs now.”
“Okay. Be there in a few!” she said, then closed her window, and I did the same.
I started to walk off and realized Bowie was still looking over at Genesis’s house. I glanced back, and she was brushing her hair. I shifted my gaze back to him, and he was still watching her. What the fuck? Why was he watching her brush her hair? It was creepy, and he needed to stop.
“Dude?” I asked.
He turned his head toward me. “Yeah?”
I looked at him questioningly. “Why are you looking at Genesis like that?”
He rolled his eyes and sighed. “You don’t see it, do you?”
I looked back at Genesis, and, yeah, I saw it. Her hair was different. Even without the sun on it. There were highlights. Then, the dress showed off the shape of her body. That bothered me. Why was she showing people that?
“No. Not really. I mean, she’s got on a dress, and, yeah, that’s fucking strange,” I lied. No way I was admitting shit to him or anyone. That would make things awkward.
Bowie laughed. “I guess I should be happy about that.”
Why? I studied him as he looked at her again. He needed to stop that shit right now. Genesis was our friend. She wasn’t a regular girl.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Bowie pointed at the window. “Genesis is, like … she’s pretty. Real pretty.”