Free The Curse of Betrayal by Taylor Lavati

her. I don’t want to ruin my relationship with my roommate, who I need to like for the rest of the semester.  
    “Whatever,” Kara mutters as she grabs herself a slice. She lifts it up like it’s covered in flesh eating acid and then hands a piece off to me. I slide on my bed, slice in hand, and dig in, wishing for some meat or cheese, but craving the slice I have at the same time. To be honest, with the vinegar dressing and tomatoes, the salad pizza is pretty damn good for being healthy. Of course, I don’t say that. Lisa can’t have any satisfaction.  
    After finishing off two slices and forcing my belly to be full—although I definitely could have stomached another—“Make over time!” Megan squeals when she comes to sit next to me on my bed. I smile at her, genuinely happy, as she scoots so close to me that our hips touch.  
    “Kara, why don’t you do Megan and I’ll do Ryder.” At first, I stare at her, wondering why she should would ever want to do me, and then I realize it’s probably a scheme to murder me. Great. I’m going to be stabbed with an eyeliner pencil or have my hair pulled so hard my neck snaps.  
    “That sounds good.” Kara doesn’t care who does her makeover because everyone loves her. Meanwhile, I’m terrified of this make over since Lisa will have sharp objects near my eyes which she’ll most likely use to blind me. Overdramatic? Hardly. She could be one of those earth demons I read about in creatures class whose main goal is to create chaos. Or maybe she’s a cave dweller who can kill people by just looking at them a certain way.  
    I push aside my fears and convince myself that Lisa won’t assassinate me. We use our desk chairs as the salon chairs, readying the first victims. Kara has a huge black box filled with makeup products, like lipstick, nail polish, and unlimited colors of eye shadow, and then the other stuff is laid out on her desk. Kara grabs the box and carries it over to her bed so she and Lisa can see all of their options.  
    “I’m going to make you beautiful,” Lisa whispers so close to my ear it sends a rush of hot air down my back. Just her voice is menacing and evil. I cower at how I’ll look after this torture by my new sworn enemy.  
    “So, what’s the gossip so far?” Kara asks as she settles into her hair dresser/makeup persona, using a Long Island accent and all. I laugh to myself at how ridiculous this all is. I look over at Megan who has an all-encompassing smile. Her eyes are hooded, and while I watch her, they flutter shut as Kara plays with her hair, giving her scalp a soothing massage.  
    “I heard Mikey was crushing all over you, Ryder.” Megan reaches over and squeezes my hand, her eyes still closed. Really, that’s the gossip?
    “No way. He was just being friendly!” I try to debunk the rumor. The last thing I want is for romance rumors to be floating around about me. I don’t want anyone to even know my name let alone have a rumor like that get back to Ari or Cristos or anyone for that matter.  
    “Trust me, I know Mikey. He’s gotten bit by the love bug real hard,” Megan sings out, making me laugh. She even rolls her hand in the air like a little lady bug flying from petal-to-petal. She leans over her chair and pinches my shoulder with the hand bug, and I have to shy away when it tickles me.
    “I’m not really interested,” I say under my breath, trying to brush it off before it escalates further.  
    “What are you, gay?” Lisa snickers, tugging on my hair as she runs, or should I say snags, a comb through, creating a tangled mess. I groan at the pain but try to put on a brave face, refusing to give her any satisfaction, yet again.  
    “I’m not gay.” I state with venom in my voice. Just what I need: another school to accuse me of being gay. Who even cares if I was? I don’t see the big deal but just the reminder of my old situation irritates me. I’m not falling into the same trap.
    “Lay off.” Kara