Free Break Away (Away, Book 1) by Tatiana Vila Page A

was funny how I suddenly didn’t want to leave.
I was, surprisingly, enjoying Ian’s company, something I wouldn’t
have imagined in a million years—or in hundreds of reincarnations.
How had this happened so fast?
    He barked a clean, joyful laugh, and
something inside of me widened.
    The door of the kitchen swung open. “What’s
so funny?” Buffy inquired, ping-ponging her eyes between Ian and
me, back and forth.
    “Nothing,” he breathed.
    She frowned, as if not convinced, and then
shrugged, letting it go. “Are you cold?” She looked up at me.
    “I, uh, yeah,” I pulled up my shoulders
below my ears, trying to give the impression of feeling colder. It
was easier than explaining this vest I’d made with my arms, which I
knew wouldn’t be so greatly taken. Buffy was my sister, but
exhibitionism was exhibitionism, and nobody wanted a semi-naked
girl around her boyfriend. “I should go. See you tomorrow,” I told
her and glanced at Ian on my way up. He was smiling. My stomach
squeezed and I bit back a smile.
    When I reached the hall, a strange force
stilled my legs, dragging me to stay. I suddenly found my ears
perking up to catch the soft mutter of voices downstairs and
realized that strange force wasn’t that strange, after all.
It had a well known name: snooping.
    I ignored the prick of guilt and the little
voice saying ‘it’s none of your business’ and sat down on the edge
of the step, feeling like a disobedient kid all over again. I
leaned forward a bit more and opened my ears.
    “…said that?” Buffy asked about
something.
    “Yeah,” Ian answered. “She agreed and
everything. I never thought she would.” There was a short pause,
and then, “Amazing, huh?”
    “Totally,” Buffy sounded impressed. “You
look happy about this.” I imagined her eyes scanning his face.
    “Because of you,” he lowered his voice. I
heard a step and the rustling of clothes being pressed together.
“I'm happy because you’re with me. I could care less about that
stupid truce with her. I'm only doing it for you. It’s just
pretense.” He said with a smile on his voice. “Just pretense,” he
repeated, as if he needed to say that one more time.
    My ears shut. A cold fog clouded my mind. I
could feel my hands fisting and the nails digging in my palms, more
sharply every second. A hot whirlwind formed inside my stomach and
turned with fuming strength, burning my insides as if with fire. I
rose to my feet with extreme slowness, deciding whether to go down
and throw my rock-hard fists into Ian’s mouth or hold back and do
something meticulously planned later.
    At the end, I went for the latter. Good
things always took time.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 5

    “W hat are you
doing?” Linda asked, with a seed of worry blooming in her hushed
voice. “Do you have any sugar deficiency that I don’t know
about?”
    I pushed another quarter through the slot
and stepped back when the clink of the coin reverberated
underneath the metallic skin. I reached the small rectangle of
rounded buttons on the left and pressed two of them sharply,
impatience turning my index finger into a hammer. The soft
mechanical response touched my ears and a silver loop coiled back
from the red sachet, like a snake releasing a victim from its grip.
A few seconds later, a light thump flattened at the
bottom.
    “Whatever this is, you have to stop,” Linda
added. Her voice was a combination of exasperation and concern.
    I bent forward and shoved my hand past the PUSH door. “Just in need to taste the
rainbow,” I said while pulling out the bag of Skittles. I
straightened, dropped the candy into my tote, and glanced at Linda.
“No need to freak out over that, grandma.”
    “Please, you are more than welcome to taste
the rainbow, and the clouds, and the rain all you want, but
this?”She squeezed the bottom of my tote and got a dry crackling
sound in answer. “You can load an entire Christmas sock with
this— and have an overdose of