Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 819(@200wpm)___ 655(@250wpm)___ 546(@300wpm)
I scoffed. “That would not surprise me. I’m basically solving my mother’s murder on my own to stop them putting my innocent best friend away for the rest of her life, so why not get used to doing their job for them?”
“Not on your own, baby.” Micah kissed me sweet and slow until my toes curled. “Never on your own.”
“WELCOME, HONORED GUESTS and esteemed alumni.”
Bright blinding lights shone in the auditorium, blinding one and all—if there even was an all. I couldn’t see anyone to the left or right of me. All I could see—standing at the podium—was the clown.
“We’re happy to have you, Sarang Kim.” The clown latched on me, grinning that grotesque grin. “And have you I will—always!”
“Omma,” I screamed. “He’s there! The clown’s right there! Help me!” Chains lashed around my arms, chest, and legs—binding me to the seat. “Omma, help me!”
“Enough!” Omma’s voice roared through the auditorium. “Enough of your lies! There is no clown! There never was a clown!”
“He’s right there, please!” Tears soaked my face. “Please, believe me—”
The floor opened up beneath my feet, plunging me—chair and all into the darkness.
“Ahh!” I tumbled out of bed, hitting the floor with my face and shoulder.
Pulling my body in, I curled up on the floor—tears leaking from my eyes as the last traces of the dream faded away.
“WHY ARE WE HERE AGAIN?” Alex stopped the car in front of the house, parking on the street.
We eyed the pink one-story bungalow and the overgrown, brown lawn it sat on. I didn’t know what I was expecting from the Finley house, but this wasn’t it.
The lawn was dead. The porch was desperately in need of repainting. The wheelchair ramp was rusted and barely keeping it together. And one of the windows was boarded up like it was broken at some point, but no one got around to fixing it.
“I’m here to see an old school friend.”
Titan Prep was a prestigious academy that welcomed elite and academically superior students from all over the East Coast and abroad. They were also known to give out one, and only one, scholarship per school year to a student who couldn’t afford their obscenely expensive tuition.
The scholarship competition was extremely competitive, but Colin won. Thanks to that, he, me, and Courtney were the only students from Lantana who got into Titan Prep that year. Something the three of us bonded over, but the principal used as further “proof” that I pranked Colin. According to him, I was jealous of the scholarship kid who beat me out for everything, when in actuality, the only one who was jealous was Sue.
The main reason I chose Titan Prep was because it was so exclusive, it took a lot more than money to get you in. And that was what I wanted—to go to a high school full of strangers, and no Sue.
Surprise to no one, Sue made middle school a nightmare for me. She was constantly spreading false rumors about me, trying to turn my friends against me, or picking fights with me only to burst into tears and say I started it whenever a teacher broke us up. I wanted away from her, so I applied to Titan Prep.
The minute Sue heard about it, even though she knew exactly why I chose a different high school than her, she applied too—and got rejected.
Cue the sobbing and wails to our mother that it wasn’t fair for me to go to a fancy prep school while she was stuck at our local one. She tried hard—and I mean hard—to get our mother to change her mind and stop me going to Titan Prep. The girl fired every manipulative weapon in her arsenal, but it didn’t work.
So yes, it was true jealousy plagued me all four years that I attended Titan Prep, but it wasn’t mine. That came from the monster my egg split into.
“Would you mind waiting here for me?” I unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my things. “I don’t want her to feel ganged up on. This is going to be a difficult enough conversation.”
“Whoa, whoa.” A hand on the arm stopped me. “What’s going on? Does this have something to do with your mom or Mrs. Prado?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I said honestly. “But whether it does or it doesn’t, I realized last night that this conversation is long overdue. Mrs. Finley deserves to know the truth about what happened that day, and I was always going to be the only one who could’ve told her—that’s why I should’ve done this a long time ago.”
The man looked even more confused than before I opened my mouth. “Finley? Wait.” His brows snapped together. “Why does that name sound familiar?”
“Don’t be afraid to get out and stretch your legs.” I hopped out of the car. “I might be a while.”