[Currently being rewritten and updated chapter by chapter]
Book One in the "Hard Love" series.
It's hard being knocked down. And it's even harder getting back up.
Thalia Carter grew up on the south side of Chicago with a dead-beat dad and never real...
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Laura is a goddamn saint. Seriously, I think sometimes I forget how much she's taking on for a twenty-three year old. How much she's been taking on since she was in high school. While other kids were partying, hooking up, or taking advantage of their youth, she was working two jobs while still trying to get into college.
She views my out of school suspension as a punishment for her just as much as it is for me. She thinks she's failing. My sister is stressing about being a parent when she doesn't even have a kid. I think I might actually drive her to an early grave.
I've been selfish. I've made my problems hers, consequentially weighing both of us down rather than just me. But that's over now. I'm going to do the unheard of in the Thalia Carter vocabulary and be...responsible.
Starting tomorrow. Tonight I have every intention of getting just a tad too drunk and partying with Fallon and Zoe. And since I'm three hours away from Laura, there's no reason she needs to know.
There's an electric buzz and my head snaps over to the door. Fallon and Zoe enter, looking high on life. If so, I have no doubt Oliver will be getting lucky tonight. Apparently, he's something of a hotshot athlete at Brookhaven. There are a lot of scouts paying attention to him, and playing college ball is basically a given.
"That was amazing!" Zoe gushes, flopping down onto our shared bed. Fallon had the luck of the draw and got the other to herself.
"Anything interesting happen?" I ask, sitting up in bed.
"Nate nearly got ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct after some guy did a dirty move, but he managed to calm down. We won, so Oliver's happy," Fallon explains with a shrug, looking almost indifferent. She doesn't strike me as a huge sports buff, so I'm betting her sole motive in going was to support Oliver. "How were things here?"
"Boring," I answer with a dramatic eye roll and hop off the bed. "I want to party."
"I second that," Zoe pipes in, sitting up with a newfound energy. "Nate scored on the field, so he's definitely gonna be scoring off the field as well, if you know what I mean." She winks, and Fallon and I lock eyes for a long drawn-out moment before breaking down in laughter.
Ignoring a lot of Zoe's crass comments about Nate's ass, we begin to get ready for the party. She may be the youngest, but she's also undoubtedly the most sexual, or at least the most vocal about it. I don't miss the excited hoots and hollers coming from the halls as other students make their way up to the party.
"I like this." I examine myself in the mirror, running my hands up and down my little black dress as I turn and pop my hip to study how my butt looks. It's not too tight and it's not too short or exposing, save for the open back and cowl neckline, showing a hint of cleavage from my spectacular boobs. I look hot.
