Catching Temptation (In Darkness She Fades (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

thousands of tiny
needles poking out of his head. He plays the part of a celebrity pop star well.
    My muscles tense and ache with a
burning desire to yank Daniel’s head back. The idea of him not having
everything the way he wanted scores as an unobtainable pleasure.
    Daniel gives himself a satisfied
smirk in the mirror.
    The car arrives at Rosewood High
School. Daniel and I hurry out. We shut the car doors and Aunt Sally drives off
to Nathaniel’s school, leaving the two of us in a cloud of suffocating dirt and
crushed gravel. I swat the dirt from my clothes while Daniel rushes to the
school with a harsh warning to, “Stay away from me!” He struts to the school
doors and disappears behind them.
    With a doubtful frown, I amble up
to the front doors and step into the dully-lit hallway. Pleased to see multiple
lines at the registration booths, I wait at the nearest one to the exit. The
damning eyes of the female students cause my fears to rise. No friends will
come from this crowd. Daniel slouches in the back of a line talking to a couple
of guys dressed like heavy metal rock stars.
    “What a little hypocrite,” I
mutter.
    Only the side profiles of the two
guys are visible, but I immediately know they are twins. Shoulder-length hair
feathers out around their faces. The singular distinct difference between them
is one has lightning orange hair and the other, onyx hair.
    Daniel and the twins roar with
laughter.
    I cannot contain a budding twinge
of jealousy toward my cousin. A few girls behind me whisper and cackle to each
other. It appears they think I cannot hear their mock whispers. They are dead
wrong.
    “Look at the way she’s dressed.”
    “–Probably worships the devil or
some Hindu God–”
    “–Jenkins is going to have his
hands full with this one.”
    Their whispers confirm my fears
of prejudges toward new students. In the crowd, I cannot see a difference
between any of the girls. No Goth chicks. This sucked.
    “Next!”
    I step forward, inspecting the
older woman sitting behind the cheap foldout table. Her gray hair frames her
oval face, while a pair of tiny spectacles rests on the tip of her pinched
nose.
    “Mercy – look at you!” The old
woman removes her reading glasses to get a better look at me. Her nails, the
color of dirt and mustard, distract me from the taunts of the crowd. “I
declare, this is the first time in years since we’ve had someone who has shown
a spark of individuality. Love the nose ring. Unfortunately, it’s not allowed
to be worn in school, but I’ll not make you remove it. It’s not my job.” She
winks. “By the way, I’m Mrs. Peters. I work as the librarian and after-school
choir teacher. What’s your full name, Dearie?”
    “My – Oh.” Slightly taken aback
by the speed at which the old woman spoke, I shook my temporary confusion away.
“Temptation Belladonna Falls. It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Peters–”
    “What a poisonous name.
Delicious. It delivers a ring of death to it.” The black haired twin speaks
softly over my shoulder. The noise from the other students mutes as if someone
turns the volume down so the surrounding voices are almost inaudible.
    I crane my neck to observe his
face, but he departs as swiftly as he arrived. The noise spikes back to
normality. “Weird.”
    “What, Dearie?”
    I jab a thumb behind me and say,
“That guy is weird.”
    “What guy?” Mrs. Peters’ eyebrows
scrunch together, while observing the awaiting students in line.
    “The heavy metal guy who spoke in
my ear a second ago.”
    “I didn’t see anyone. You glanced
over your shoulder, but no one was there. Oh! You must have heard one of the
students nearby and thought they were talking to you. Happens to me all the
time.” Mrs. Peters smiles and extends her withered hand for my transcript
papers. “Getting down to business, we’ll have you registered in no time. What
electives would you like to take?”
    “Art. I love to draw and paint.
Guess I wouldn’t mind