Coercion Read Online Free PDF Page A

eyes looking black in the darkness. “You can just forget about fucking her. She’s not your kind.”
    Michael heaved a sigh. “You know, Breeze, if I wanted your opinion—”
    “From what I remember, she’s a meek little mouse, and she always has been,” Breeze interrupted as if she hadn’t heard him. “It’s a small town, Michael, and I’ve never heard about her with anyone. I doubt she ever stuck her own finger in her cunt, let alone let someone else do it.”
    “Cute, Breeze.” Michael snorted. “Very cute. Very ladylike too. You’ll have to tell me which charm school you went to so I can write a letter commending their efforts.” Still, he grew excited at the thought of the brunette—Valerie—shyly opening her legs to him and him sliding a finger into her moist center, all the while knowing he was the first to do so.
    Breeze ignored his comment. “Besides, she’s going places. She’s a brain. After graduation, she’ll probably go to Harvard or something. I doubt she’s going to want to hang around and wither away in this boring town with your dumb ass.”
    “You don’t have to either,” Michael snapped.
    “I know,” Breeze said, putting an arch in her voice, “and maybe I won’t.”
    Lisa pushed the now empty container of fries off her lap and onto the grass. “Is there ever a time when you two aren’t fighting? I swear, you make me feel like I’m a kid in the middle of a divorce.”
    “Then get the fuck out of here,” Michael all but snarled.
    Lisa put a hand to her open mouth, feigning surprise. “Such language.” She stood, dusting her hands off on the back pockets of her bellbottom jeans. “I’m going for a fry run. I’m sure you two will have moved on to dry humping, like always, by the time I get back.” She hurried down the hill toward the snack stand.
    Breeze let out a long, sad sigh. “Why did you talk to my friend like that?”
    “Are you serious?” Michael groaned and lay down, the grass tickling his ears. “Shut up, Breeze.”
    Breeze reclined next to him, outlining his nose with her fingertip. “Baby, I don’t want to fight. Look, I honestly don’t even care about you checking out that girl today. Do what you want.” She took a deep breath. “The reason I’m being so testy is... I don’t know. I just know what I would do for you, no matter what, and so I just want to make sure I have a place in your life in the years to come.” She reached for his hand. “When you think about the future, am I in yours?”
    “I don’t think about my future.”
    “Fine.” Breeze took her hand back. “Then I won’t think about ours, either. Okay?” She got to her feet. “I can see this conversation is boring you, so let’s just wrap it up with the conclusion that whatever happens, happens.”
    “Breeze.” Michael squeezed his eyes shut. “Don’t be like this.”
    “I’ll be like whatever I want.” She stepped over Michael so her feet were on either side of his waist and leaned down to whisper in his ear, her voice liquid and low. “There’re going to be some changes around here, and I don’t think you’ll be happy with any of them.”
    Michael kept his eyes closed, even as he felt Breeze move away and leave him alone on the hill, surrounded by spectators. He took a deep breath in, his chest rising as he felt the bass drum send vibrations through the ground and then his body. The guitar was so loud he felt every note in his veins. His mind wandered back to Valerie Mercer. He wondered if she was still clapping and smiling by the fire, and if she was as angelic as Breeze claimed.
    He opened his eyes and drank in the sight of a black-blue sky pinpricked with stars. How hard was it to make an angel fall?

Chapter 2
    Friday
    October 18, 1974
    Valerie stood in front of Kenton College Library’s meager poetry collection, tapping her fingers on each books’ spine, as if by doing so she could best determine what next to read. Her attention lingered on a Tennyson