Chapter One
Hannah Harnett
My eyes blinked open wearily, and almost immediately they
squinted shut again. Ugh. I
sighed and leaned against the extremely uncomfortable navy blue
coach airplane seat. I pulled the stiff gray shade up from over the
window and looked at the hot Hawaiian landscape escaping behind me
as the plane sped through clouds towards the completely unglamorous
life of Clovelly, England waiting for me upon arrival. I pulled a
bag of chips and a compact mirror out of my carry on and winced
when the screaming six-year-old behind me kicked my seat, causing
the mirror to fly out of my hands and back onto the floor. I rolled
my eyes and picked it up.
Looking
in the mirror, I saw what I always saw. My thick blonde hair with
natural red highlights was pulled into a ponytail that was slightly
off-center. At fourteen years old, I was abnormally below the
average height and weight, and one of the youngest kids in tenth
grade. I glared at my reflection. The pale purple eyeliner around
my wide, almond-shaped, startlingly green eyes was smudged. My lips
had lost their glossy pink tinge from when I put the blueberry
lip-gloss before I left had faded, and most of my concealer had
worn off, revealing my flushed pink cheeks and constellation of
pale freckles. There were deep black-and-blue shadows under my eyes
from sleepless nights I spent in the woods or hidden in overturned,
abandoned canoes left at the sandy beach. My PINK hoodie covered an
old Hollister shirt and the bruises and cuts around my thin wrists,
given to me by my mother, right after she told me about the
boarding school for ‘troubled girls’ she was sending me
to. Things got pretty rough, and I guess I don’t have the
best temper, so next thing I knew; mom had my wrists in one strong
hand, and an empty beer bottle in the
other.
I turned the mirror over. Super-glued to the back of the oval
compact was a blurry photograph of our family—right before my
dad died and my mom turned into an alcoholic. I was about six. My
thick hair, bright red in the picture, was pulled into two French
braids just past my shoulders. It was Halloween, and I was dressed
as a cowgirl. My front two teeth were missing from my wide white
smile. Two days later, my superhero, doctor dad was submitted into
the hospital after a jellyfish attack that appeared at the beach on
a hot summer’s day, taking everyone at the beach by surprise.
He was the only death. Ever since, my mother refused to take a job
and got all of her money for booze and cigarettes by entering me
into thousands of pageants and selling medical marijuana on the DL.
Of course she wasted all of that cash as well. ;Hours later a
crackly voice overhead announced we were beginning our descent. I
sighed a breath of relief">Finally. I glanced in the mirror
once more before sliding it into my pocket and was startled to see
the look of terror on my face. I was nervous! As I looked out the
window at the sight below me, I held my breath. I never thought
I’d be so happy to be in a place in my life as I braced
myself for what was coming.
Rules aren't the only things broken
here...
Chapter One Hannah Harnett My eyes blinked open wearily, and
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Jul 3, 2011 11:08pm