Banished: Book 1 of The Grimm Laws Read Online Free PDF Page A

memory, but there was something about him that scared her—scared her to the core. And somehow, in a way she couldn’t understand, she knew that she must stay away from him. She went to her room and threw herself down on the bed. A nap was what she needed—a nice long nap. Everything would look better when she woke up. She closed her eyes and drifted off. It was in that moment, right before sleep overtook her, that she remembered his name—Rushton. His name was Rushton.

Chapter Two

The Kiss
    E lle sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. She looked out the window at the darkening sky. Her heart dropped. “Oh, my gosh,” she blustered. It was getting dark outside. She reached for her cell phone—5:45. “What the heck!” She’d set the alarm on her phone for 3:00. Had she slept through it? She pushed her hair out of her face and checked the alarm. It was turned off. She had turned it on, hadn’t she? She jumped out of bed and went to the chair to retrieve the dress. Her mind was whirling. It was almost 6:00, and she still had to shower. The school was ten minutes away, and she was supposed to be there by 6:15. Had Josselyn and Sera gotten home from their shopping trip? “This is a disaster,” she spat, mad at herself for oversleeping. “How could I be so stupid?” She willed herself to calm down. Losing it wasn’t going to help matters. She could get ready in a few minutes. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if she were a little late. The game didn’t start until 7:00, and she wouldn’t have to walk out on the field until halftime. She reached for the dress and let out a cry, not believing what her eyes were seeing. There was a dark stain splattered across the dress that started at the neckline and went halfway down the front. She touched it . It was sticky and brown. She raised the dress to her nose. Chocolate! It was chocolate.
    Panic rose in her throat almost cutting off her breath. What was she going to do?
    “Josselyn, where are you? What happened to my dress?” She ran through the house with her soiled dress across her arm, but there was no one home. Had they left already? Surely, they wouldn’t just leave her here! Angry tears welled in her eyes as she walked back to her room and threw the dress on the bed.
    She picked up her phone and called Josselyn. For the first time, she was glad that Sera had insisted that she add the numbers for family members into her phone. She groaned when it went to voice mail. “Josselyn, I’m here at home. Where are you guys? There’s something … chocolate … all over my dress. I don’t know what to do … Call me!” She tried Sera’s number next.
    “Hello.”
    “Sera,” she breathed, relieved that she’d been able to get at least one of them on the phone.
    “Yes?” came the cool reply.
    “I’m here at home, and I’m not sure where you are.”
    “At the game, of course.”
    “You just left me here?”
    There was a loud sigh. “We tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t budge. We finally had to leave without you.”
    “What? How could you?” Tears spilled onto her cheeks. “H-how could you do this to me?” Her voice broke, and she couldn’t stifle the sob that was building in her throat.
    “It’s obvious that you’re in no condition to go to a game,” Sera snapped. “Listen to you, you’re an emotional wreck.”
    “Well, of course I’m a wreck! Someone, probably Joss, spilt chocolate down the front of my dress, and then you guys up and left me here!”
    “I don’t like the tone of your voice. And I don’t appreciate you accusing Josselyn of—”
    Elle let out a groan and ended the call. She threw the phone on the bed and then crouched down on the floor in a fetal position with her head buried in her knees. She let the tears flow freely until she realized her phone was ringing.
    “Hello,” she sniffed.
    “Elle, where are you?”
    “Who is this?”
    An exasperated sigh. “Really? You don’t know.”
    “No … I’m sorry