The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy Read Online Free Page A

valued protection for their daughter, and there were few photographs published of the family together. Esperanza almost never appeared at public events with her daughter. Marisol appreciated that, but she hated it too, because it felt almost as if she didn’t exist—especially now that her mom’s calls were growing more infrequent and her dad had become more immersed in his work.
    Marisol found herself worrying about many things. Was her dad avoiding her because she reminded him of her mother? Was it so painful that she physically resembled Esperanza that it was driving a wedge between them? Or—and this was somehow worse—did he just not care anymore? He seemed apathetic about everything these days, except for his financial investments.
    As for her mother, Marisol had mixed feelings. She hated her for leaving and yet , she was glad she was gone, glad her parents had stopped yelling at each other and were at least being civil now that there was an ocean between them.
    The other thing she hated about her mother was her former eating disorder. Even now, Esperanza was too thin, and because of her struggle with the disease, everyone assumed that she was still battling anorexia and that Marisol would follow suit.
    Marisol was not too thin. She watched Michal and Monroe flirting with boys around the bonfire, and compared their bodies to hers. Her friends were stick-thin, and they were constantly urging Marisol to lose weight. It wasn’t that their criticisms were malevolent—or at least, Marisol hoped they weren’t. It just seemed like they were always pressuring her, trying to fix her. Marisol didn’t need to be fixed. Her weight was fine. I’m perfectly healthy, thank you very much.
    But because of her mother’s history and the way her friends looked, well-meaning adults often tried to intervene, adding to the pressure, because they assumed that if she wasn’t anorexic, she must be bulimic. She was neither, although denial only seemed to reinforce the assumptions. Marisol tried very hard not to focus on her weight. The hard part was that as much as she tried not to think about it, everyone around her insisted on talking about it. She just wished they would leave her alone.
    She thought she heard her name and looked up. Yep, she’d heard right. Michal and some new guy from school she wanted to impress were looking over at her. Joe, was it? Marisol couldn’t remember the guy’s last name, but it didn’t matter. Why she was the topic of interest for Michal and Joe what’s-his-name, Marisol didn’t know, but she guessed it wasn’t for her benefit.
    Michal, her best friend (well, a friend at least—perhaps best was pushing it), was one of the reasons Marisol had grown tired of high school. Michal could be moody at the best of times, and lately, it seemed like she was always irritated, constantly using Marisol as her personal doormat. Michal had been rather testy with Monroe, their other best friend, as well, but Monroe had always been better at deflecting the negativity, basically leaving Marisol in the line of fire.
    Michal said something Marisol couldn’t quite hear. She leaned forward and managed to catch a single word: “Jon.” She groaned. Whatever they were talking about, it probably had to do with all the time Marisol had spent with Jonathon Reyes at the Newcastle Beach Inn’s Autumn Ball.
    Michal despised Jon. She would have insisted that it was because she was so out of Jon’s league; Michal was disgusted by his audacity to hit on her. But Marisol suspected it was because he had the gall to flirt with Monroe and her as well, rather than make Michal the sole focus of his attention. Even if Michal didn’t want Jon, she couldn’t stand not being in the center of things. The universe did revolve around her, after all. And nothing captured Michal’s attention more than someone else being in the spotlight. Marisol was sure that Jon’s recent favoring of her over Michal reinforced this.
    Marisol didn’t