Charming Read Online Free PDF

many adults couldn’t possibly shoulder.
    Christine’s house provided safety, safety that allowed Haley to let her guard down, so she closed her eyes.
    “Either your phone is buzzing, or you’ve got something in your pants you haven’t told your best friend about. I know it’s been ages since you and Niles… uh—”
    “Shut up.” Shaking her head, Haley pulled the cell from her back pocket and read the message from Joce: Dad’s looking 4u. Ur late again?
    “Christine! I swear your pot is going to get me killed. It’s 12:30!”
    Haley made it across the street in record time, palms sweating, and found Dad waiting just inside the door, open bottle of beer in his death grip.
    “Not an ounce of respect in that body of yours. Not an ounce of it.” Dad paced his favorite spot on the worn hardwood, stopping only to take a swig, sweat forming a ring around the collar of his grimy t-shirt and rolling down his temples. “How could they yell at me? My wife used to run the place, run it! And you”—Dad said, nailing Haley to the wall with his glare—“You treat me the same way.”
    He pitched the bottle at Haley, but she darted to the side and it hit the front door instead, glass shattering everywhere. That wouldn’t do. Not tonight. She saw truth in the ferocious gleam in his eyes, in that all too familiar sneer curling his upper lip. Tonight, he’d hit her. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me, young lady.”
    “I—”
    Dad slapped her before she could say another word, before she could beg or plead or stand up and demand he rewind time and look again. She did not roll her eyes. He grabbed his hips, shoulders squared, then looked smugly down at her as she cowered by the door, palm cupped over her cheekbone. “Clean it up. Now.”
    “Why don’t you clean it up?” Just once, maybe he could leave a bruise for Joce to see. Just once, maybe he’d mess up so that Haley didn’t have to scream it to the world, ruin her family, maybe this could be someone else’s burden.
    Dad raised his hand again, ready, grinding his teeth, and Haley took a deep breath and dropped to her knees to sweep up the glass.
    Jocelyn was the only reason Haley would allow Dad to do this. “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll do it.”
    She sucked up her weakness, tossed the glass in the trash, then headed to bed, launching herself on the mattress and digging under the covers.
    “I need help, Mom.”



ocelyn bounced into Haley’s bedroom, clearly forgetting the hatred she’d hurled her older sister’s way for two years, ever since the night of the accident, the night Jocelyn wanted to know what the hell happened and Haley couldn’t tell.
    “Someone’s at the door.” Such a gorgeous, happy smile lit Joce’s blue eyes. She wore her hair down, little braids stretching from each temple and clipped at the back of her head. “For you . Though I can’t imagine why.”
    Haley caught a glimpse in the mirror of the wild, blonde hair sitting atop her head. Not even a hint of a bruise on her cheekbone. She rolled out of bed and made her way for the door.
    “Oh, no way. You can’t go out there like that.” Jocelyn shoved a cream v-neck sweater and dark blue skinny jeans into Haley’s hands. “Put these on, tame your hair, and, for the love of all things holy, please, brush your teeth. You cannot screw this up.”
    Whoever waited outside the door, they had to be rich to make Joce act this way. Though she’d melded into “normal” life well, she still preferred all things Brand. She still visited her old friends, many of them now enrolled in the Academy, still splurged on expensive clothes and handbags when Dad was nice enough to dish out money, only to her.
    Following her sister’s orders in a hurry, Haley straightened the sweater as she headed to the front door—only to find Chris Charming standing on the other side of the screen with a bright grin curving all the way up to his eyes. He wore a black beanie, wisps of brown hair darting out