Dahlia (Blood Crave Series) Read Online Free PDF

her foreign wear, to Taylor, whose sloppy demeanor and indifference was obvious. To Dahlia, they looked thrown together in a mismatch of sorts.
    She secretly wondered how they all ended up being friends with Sam, of all people.
    As she mulled over this, chuckling softly to herself, Sam eyed everyone at the table and gave them all a huge grin. “Dahlia would be so lucky to be dating me but I’m afraid to disappoint you all, friends.” She threw a fry at him but he managed to catch it due to quick reflexes and tossed it in his mouth. He turned to her and gave a wink. “Thanks for the food, hun.”
    He then looked back at his friends. “It’s not that kind of relationship, though. Dahlia, here, is my sister.”
    They were all silent for a moment at his words, trying to comprehend what he just said. Then, Meg finally spoke as she cleared her throat, one perfectly arched eyebrow raised in disbelief.
    “Sister?” The puzzlement was obvious on her face. Her nose crinkled up in confusion as her brown eyes darted from Dahlia then back to Sam suspiciously, as if she knew he was lying. “You don’t have a sister.”
    “Do now. My parents decided to foster Dahlia.” Sam said it so casually, as if it were an everyday occurrence. He looked down at his fingers as he started to pick at something from underneath a nail, mumbling, “If she’s a good little girl maybe they’ll even adopt her.”
    Dahlia rolled her eyes at Sam’s actions and blunt words about her current family status. As a feeling of awkwardness took over her body, she ducked her head in discomfort and moved her hair so it covered the majority of her face. She waited for the spew of questions she was sure would hit her like an assault. Every time she went somewhere new, people always asked questions. Every time she answered them, they were inclined to stay away after the fact.
    The others eyed each other for a moment before Deacon spoke up. “Wow, so you’re a foster kid.” Dahlia thought he was going to continue by asking questions that she wasn’t prepared to answer. Instead, all he did was shrug and said one word.
    “Cool.”
    Dahlia inwardly sighed in relief but glanced around at everyone skeptically. They continued chatting about arbitrary things as if nothing out of ordinary had occurred, and they didn’t just meet a foster kid. Except for Taylor. His head bent as he ate his sandwich in silence, he lived up to his reputation of not “talking much.” He seemed more withdrawn than Dahlia ever was, leaving her wondering if he was even listening to any of the conversations. She eyed each of these new people quietly in amazement.
    They were all so nice.
    Every one of Sam’s friends seemed different, from the way they acted to the way they dressed. But for some reason they were all friends. She smiled to herself as she took another bite of her burger, thinking that perhaps she had found a group of people that would finally accept her. As she did, her gaze caught Sam’s eye. He looked back at her, delighted over the fact that he had gotten her into a social situation.
    Dahlia wiped the smile off her face and rolled her eyes in return as she chewed her food. Then the smile slowly crept back on her lips as a thought crossed her mind. Maybe things in Cedar Oaks would be different after all, and she’d finally be able to breathe.
    Now, wouldn’t that be something?

Chapter 3
    Later on that day in class, Dahlia sat at a corner desk, once again wishing she were anywhere but there. The only thing she truly enjoyed was typing in her journal, something she was itching to do. The orphanage had it right with the home-schooling bit. She barely listened to the words coming out of the teacher’s mouth and instead let her mind wander as she thought back to lunch. She had been pleasantly surprised that Sam’s friends had acted normal around her after they found out she was a foster kid. She finally found some potential friends.
    Yay me!
    Drumming her fingers against