Copyright © 2023 by Abbi Glines

  All rights reserved.

  Visit my website at www.abbiglinesbooks.com

  Cover Designer: www.Damonza.com

  Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com

  Formatting: Melissa Stevens, The Illustrated Author, www.theillustratedauthor.com

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  I Prologue

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  II Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Scorched Teaser...

  Prologue

  One

  Acknowledgements

  To all the “best friends” who were always something more.

  I

  “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt.”

  —Mark Twain (possibly. No one is completely sure.)

  The Past …

  Genesis—Seven Years Old

  June 1

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I stood on the back porch of our new house, watching the neighbors put out balloons around their yard. The inflatable water slide had been delivered an hour ago, and it was in the center of everything. I chewed on my thumbnail and considered leaving the house to go over there and introduce myself. My mom had gone to get groceries, and my dad was back in Georgia, handling the sale of our old house. I knew I wasn’t supposed to go anywhere when I was home alone, but it was just next door.

  I hadn’t noticed any kids over there since we’d moved in last week, and trust me, I had been looking for a house on this street with kids in the yard. Two boys came running out of the back door of the house. One was shouting while the other was laughing, as if he had all the secrets to life. They were wearing swim trunks and headed for the slide. I wanted on that slide.

  A woman followed them, carrying a large watermelon, and put it on the table in the yard. I heard her call out for them to be careful. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and when she turned to go back inside, I saw her face. She reminded me of the Barbie dolls that my cousin Annie loved to play with. I didn’t like dolls of any kind. I would rather climb a tree or build a fort.

  The boy who seemed to outshine the other one came down the slide, shouting, “Motherfucker.”

  My eyes widened in shock. I studied him as he stood up and pounded on his chest. He had hair even blonder than the woman did. It was long for a boy too. Almost to his shoulders. He shook his now-wet hair and was grinning up at the other boy, who hadn’t come down yet. I was almost positive he called the other boy a pussy.

  Did that woman inside not hear him cursing? I’d get a paddle to my butt if I talked like that.

  He turned as if he were about to jump down when he saw me. Pausing, he studied me then lifted a hand and waved at me. “Are you my new neighbor?” he called out.

  I nodded my head.

  “Cool!” He grinned. “Want to come to my birthday party?”

  Yes. Yes, I did!

  “What time is it at?”

  “In an hour, but you can come slide now if you want.”

  The other boy came down the slide and knocked him off his feet. He yelled another curse word at him, and then they both stood up. The other boy had dark hair, and it looked like it was in a buzz cut. The blond shoved him, and buzz-cut boy fell off into the grass.

  Then, the blond looked back at me. “Come on over!”

  Mom wouldn’t mind, I told myself even though that wasn’t exactly true.

  “Okay!” I called back.

  Inside, I had to dig through two boxes in my room before I found a swimsuit. I hurried and changed before heading next door. I’d keep my eye on the house and come tell Mom where I was when she got home.

  When I made it to the backyard of the neighbor’s house, the blond boy was cutting open the watermelon with a knife.

  How old was he? My parents wouldn’t allow me to touch a knife. He said bad words and used a knife.

  Looking up, he saw me and smiled. “Hey, I’m Kye. What’s your name?”

  “Genesis,” I told him.

  “That’s a fucking cool name,” he said with an appreciative nod. “You like watermelon?”

  “Yes,” I replied.

  “I got some sodas!” the other boy called out as he came out of the house. He saw me. “The new neighbor girl,” he said. “I heard Mom say that a family moved into the Mills’ house. You got something on your face.”

  “Oh, that’s, uh …” I paused. I did not want to call it a beauty mark, like grown-ups did when they pointed it out.

  “Is it, like, a mole or a freckle?” he asked.

  “Jesus, you’re an idiot,” Kye said to him, rolling his eyes. “It’s, like, one of those birthmark things.”

  It wasn’t a birthmark either. It was a mole, and it hadn’t shown up until a year ago. I hated it, but Mom said I wouldn’t one day. She’d had it checked out, and the doctor had said it was fine. I, however, wished it would go away.

  The guy shrugged, then looked at me. “What’s your name?”

  “It’s Genesis,” Kye told him. “That’s Bowie,” he said to me. “You want a soda?”

  “Uh, no, that’s okay.” I wanted a soda, but my mom hated for me to drink anything but water.

  Kye looked at Bowie. “Go get her a soda.”

  Bowie rolled his eyes. “It’s your house, Kye. You go get it.”

  Kye glared at him, and Bowie threw up his hands in frustration, then turned to go back inside the house.

  Kye sliced a large chunk of watermelon and slid it across the table to me. “Here you go.”

  I walked over to it. “Thanks,” I said to him. “How old are you turning today?”

  He gave me a crooked grin. “Eight. I already had a party too. It was at my dad’s though. Best thing about divorced parents: two parties.” He winked, then stuck a piece of watermelon into his mouth.

  Bowie came back outside with a soda and handed it to me. “Here.”

  “Thanks,” I told him.

  He reached for some watermelon. “How old are you?” he asked me.

  “Seven,” I replied. I left out the fact that I had just turned seven last month.

  He nodded. “Too bad you’re not a boy.”

  “Don’t be fucking rude, Bowie!” Kye yelled at him.

  Bowie shrugged. “Didn’t mean to. It’s just if she was a boy, then I’d have someone to play with when you’re at your dad’s.”

  “I only go every other weekend,” he replied.

  I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at Bowie. “You have a problem playing with girls?” I asked, annoyed.

  “Seeing as I don’t like dolls and stuff like that, then yeah.”

  I cocked my head to one side. “Neither do I. I don’t even own a baby doll.” Then, wanting to prove myself, I glanced over at the big tree in the corner, where my yard connected with Kye’s. “Bet I can get to the top of that tree before you can.”

  Bowie raised his eyebrows, then grinned, showing two missing teeth. “No way.”

  Kye laughed. “Dude, if she beats you, I’m telling the whole school.”

  Bowie set his drink down and narrowed his gaze as he looked at me. “Say when.”

  I was good at climbing trees. It was why I’d made the bet. But I hadn’t climbed that one yet, and it was tall. Much taller than I normally climbed. I looked at the tree and the amused expression on Kye’s face, then turned back to Bowie.

  “Go!”

  We both took off running, and it was a good thing I was a fast runner because Bowie’s legs were longer than mine. I kept up and only got to the tree a second after he did. I heard Kye cheering me on, and I knew he was doing it to get to Bowie, but it helped me. I did good under pressure. Using my feet, I pushed against the trunk and grabbed the first limb, then pulled myself up. I could see Bowie on the other side of the trunk, and he was struggling to get his longer legs over the limb and stand up to reach the next one. That gave me the advantage. I was up to the third limb when I glanced down to see he’d just gotten on the first one fully. Smiling, I started going up further. Just a few more to go.

  “She’s kicking your ass!” Ky
e called out, laughing.

  I was grinning as I made my way up to the next limb when I heard Bowie grunt. I glanced down to see he hadn’t even gotten up to the second limb yet. I was going to prove my point even better than I had hoped.

  The sound of my mother shouting my name came just before the limb I was pulling on started to break. I tried to grab something else, but it snapped before I could get my arms around the trunk. There was a moment when I wondered if this was going to kill me as the branches scratched my body while I fell past them, failing to grab hold of any of them. The sharp pain that shot up my arm was the last thing I remembered when I hit the ground.

  Genesis—Ten Years Old

  June 1

  The music could be heard from Kye’s backyard the moment I stepped outside. Smiling, I pulled my ponytail through my Atlanta Braves baseball cap that Dad had brought me home last week and ran across the freshly mowed grass of our lawn.

  Today, Kye turned eleven years old.

  I’d waved at him and shouted, “Happy birthday,” from my bedroom window this morning.

  He had opened his bedroom window and told me that I’d better have him a good present when I showed up this afternoon for the party. Mom had tried to get me to wear a dress over my bathing suit and braid my hair. I had rolled my eyes at her and asked if she wanted the boys to make fun of me for months. If Kye and Bowie saw me in a dress, they’d laugh so hard that their sides would hurt.

  The blue gift bag that I held grasped tightly in my hand swung back and forth, hitting my leg as I made my way into the backyard that I spent more time in than my own. The trampoline that Kye had gotten for Christmas two years ago had a sprinkler under it, and the bonfire was already going with long sticks beside it and a table that held s’mores supplies. There was a water-balloon station set up over where his swing set used to be, an area with a water gun obstacle course, and then the table with food and snacks.

  Kye was shouting at Gary, a guy in his grade at school with bright red hair and freckles, to grab a water gun while he took off into the course with one in his hand. Just before he turned the corner, his blue eyes met mine, and he stopped. The big grin that had recently started making me feel funny in my stomach broke out over his tanned face.

  “Wait up!” he called out to Bowie, who had already gone into the course. Then, he turned and headed toward me.

  I set his gift down on the table with the other few gifts from the kids who had already arrived.

  “You’re late!” he accused me as his eyes twinkled.

  “Am not,” I argued. “The party starts at seven. It’s seven,” I replied.

  He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to one side. “Since when do you wait until the party starts?”

  Since I’d had to argue with my mom about how I dressed. She’d said I looked like a boy. That was a common argument these days. She kept wanting me to dress feminine. Her words, not mine.

  “Sorry,” I replied with a shrug. “Mom was making me do stuff,” I lied.

  There was no way I was telling him about the dress and braids. He’d laugh at the mere thought of it.

  He reached for the bag, his body dripping water all over the table.

  “It’s not time to open presents yet!” I scolded him.

  Kye didn’t care. He always did what he wanted, when he wanted.

  “I’m not waiting to see what you got me,” he said with a crooked grin before reaching into the bag and pulling out the Florida Gators football jersey Dad had helped me order online.

  He beamed at me, holding it up. “This is awesome!”

  “HEY! I didn’t get one of those for my birthday!” Bowie accused me, frowning, when he reached us.

  I laughed and took the bag from Kye. “There is something at the bottom, but you shouldn’t get it wet.”

  Kye looked at me, then motioned at the bag. “Then, you show me.”

  Feeling like the hero, I reached inside and pulled out the envelope that Dad had given me earlier this week. Kye studied it, his eyes going from the envelope to my face.

  “A card?” Bowie asked, then rolled his eyes.

  I opened the envelope, feeling like a rock star, then took the tickets from inside and held them up. “First Gators home game of the season. Dad’s taking us.”

  Kye’s eyes went wide, and then he punched a fist into the air and shouted, “HOT DAMN!”

  “WAIT! You got him tickets to see the Gators play?” Bowie looked devastated.

  I fanned out the three tickets and looked at him pointedly. “I got all three of us tickets.”

  The massive smile that broke across his face was priceless.

  “Hey, Kye,” Maegan Washington said in a syrupy voice.

  She was wearing a short blue jean miniskirt with a hot-pink bikini top as she leaned closer to Kye, batting her long lashes. Every guy at school thought Maegan was pretty.

  Kye turned to look at her, and I could tell by the expression on his face that he liked her. Bowie nudged his arm and then gave the girl his own appreciative ogle.

  She twirled a long lock of her blonde hair. “Happy birthday,” she said, looking at him as if he were a treat she wanted to eat.

  My chest tightened as Kye turned his back completely to me and gave her his undivided attention. This had been happening more and more lately. I was no longer the only girl in Kye’s and Bowie’s lives. They had started noticing girls and talking about them. At first, I’d made fun of them, but it was starting to make me feel left out.

  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?”