Tear You Apart Read Online Free PDF Page A

knew he hated places like this. He was an outsider here and no one would pretend that he wasn’t.
    Viv didn’t like the club, either, but she never felt like she didn’t belong. She felt like an outsider around Henley’s friends. They were a completely different crowd of Cursed. There was Jack Tran—the self-proclaimed king of the Giant Killers (all Giant Killers took the name
Jack
; you had to know their last names to know who anyone was)—and Elliot Nicks, with his stolen tinderbox and the creepy dogs that did his bidding whenever he lit up. There was always a group of Red Riding Hoods; plus hangers-on, kids without curses who wanted to be part of the crowd; a few Bandit Girls; and that jerk with themirror shard stuck in his eye who could see everyone’s flaws and was always calling people on their shit.
    Henley finally noticed her, started to come over, and Viv slipped out the door. The way she was feeling, a simple conversation would blow up into an argument, and she didn’t want to be a spectacle for the past-their-prime Cursed at the party. Those vultures had enough to talk about already.
    As she stepped onto the dark golf course, Viv was hit by a memory from tenth grade: fall formal, a few months before Henley was cursed. They’d gone to the dance because she wanted the snobs at her prep school to see her hot boyfriend all dressed up. Walking in with him while everyone stared—that was the best part. But the music sucked and she didn’t like her classmates, so they left early and came to Seven Oaks. Snuck onto the green with a couple of clubs and whacked balls into the darkness—laughing too loudly, shouting at the night. Henley shed his dress shirt and tie to play in his undershirt, and when security showed up, they ran. Viv abandoned her shoes but saved Henley’s shirt. She wore it home where she hung it in her closet and periodically pressed her nose to the fabric, smelling cut grass and Henley’s woodsy cologne. Like she had a piece of him even when he wasn’t there. The scent had long since faded, but she still had the shirt in her closet.
    Viv pushed the memory down. They’d had lots of good nights, but that was in the past. Now, when people stared, they looked at her not like she was lucky, but like she had a death wish.
    She heard the door open behind her, a sudden rush of party noise until it closed.
    Henley called her name. Part of her wanted to turn back—therewas no one here she’d rather be with. But she kept going. She knew it would annoy him—it would’ve annoyed her, if he’d done it.
    “How long are you going to pretend I’m not here?”
    She stopped then. “I guess I’m taking my cues from you. Did your date get bored of you?”
    “You think I want to be at this party? I’m here because you are.”
    “Sorry, I could’ve sworn Regina was parading you around. Was it me? Are we here together?”
    “Your stepmom and I,” he said, “walked in at the same time. You would have been there, too, if you hadn’t rushed inside before I could even talk to you.”
    “Well, I didn’t know I was supposed to wait. I thought you were leaving.”
    “Yeah … why is your stepmom the one who invites me, and you jump out of my truck like you’re ditching a cab? I’m not your taxi service.”
    “No, you’re her puppet.”
    “Really, Viv? I’m her puppet now?”
    “That’s what everyone
thinks
. That’s what you let them believe. And why would you, unless it’s true? Do you just like the attention? Or do you just like getting a good view of her boobs?”
    “What the hell are you talking about?”
    She wasn’t sure she knew anymore. She was at the point in the argument when she could feel things spiraling out of her control, when she barely knew what was coming out of her mouth. She felt gripped by panic—the need to make him believe her, to understand why she was upset. There was nobackpedaling or apologizing. She moved in one direction and that was away. Farther and farther