Other Side of Beautiful (A Beautifully Disturbed #1) Read Online Free Page A

times we’ve spoken. Col will introduce us when he’s ready.
    Sure enough, when I walk inside Collin is sitting on the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest. He was even considerate enough to have this conversation fully dressed, which means shit’s about to get serious. Col doesn’t usually let technicalities such as clothing get in his way when he has something on his mind. “I don’t suppose you went with her last night?”
    “ No .”
    “Why do you keep doing this to yourself?”
    “Why are we discussing what I do at—” I look down at my watch. “—seven a.m. on New Year’s?”
    “Because I don’t even think you’re fooling yourself anymore.”
    Ouch. And now we’ve reached the point where he crosses over from best friend to nuisance, calling me on the crap I’d rather not be called on. “I’m not,” I say honestly and drop down in the chair across from him.
    “So then what are you going to do about it?”
    “What am I going to do? I kissed her last night and she ran.”
    “She didn’t run. If you didn’t tell her how you feel, then to her that kiss was just a party game.”
    “Have you ever thought she just doesn’t want me like that? Maybe she just wants to stay friends.”
    “Have you seen the way she looks at you? But you know Elly, she’ll never make the first move. You have to do it. Suck it up and take care of business. Now, I need coffee. That was Kip, by the way. You might see him around here a bit more.” I smile at him. Good to know one of us is getting his shit together. “What?” he says. “Don’t look at me like that. Go get cleaned up so we can go.”
     

 
    Chapter 4
     

Elle
     
    The worst part about drinking holidays is that I have to experience Kelly’s morning after without the distraction of a hangover myself. Her morning afters seem to center around me and what I can do to help her through it. I woke this morning to my name being called out—well, more like a moan than a call—between heaving sounds that I followed to Kelly, sitting on the floor with her head resting against the cool porcelain of the toilet bowl. And she’s a mess. Vomit trails down her dress, the one from last night she had been too wasted for me to get her out of. It took a herculean effort just to get her inside the house and onto her bed without the aid of Benton. There’s an upchuck trail following the floor, as if she tried to make it to the old throne but just couldn’t get there on time.
    “I’m here, Kel,” I coo softly and carefully begin peeling her night of excess away without getting it on either of us. She whimpers several times, sits up rigid fast, and heaves again. I hold her hair back until nothing else comes up and then help her stand, walking her into the shower. Kelly can’t stand on her own, falling forward and then backward both times I try to leave. Leaning on me might be a metaphor for her life. I mean, she hasn’t stood on her own since we met. But friends help friends. I climb in the shower fully clothed and help her wash up.
    She seems to perk up a little, able to finish without me. My friends are going to miss me this semester. While changing out of my soaking wet pajamas, I can’t help thinking about the conversation Benton and I had last night. Cricket and my charmed sister Dinah would never believe me if I told them. People will miss me. M e.
    Only my dad and grandmother ever missed me, and they haven’t missed me in years now. I dress quickly in a pair of my favorite ripped and holey jeans, my Keep Calm and Keep Writing T-shirt, and a GHU writing department hoodie. Kelly, a little more alert now, stands at my bedroom door. After helping her back over to her room and into a pair of pajamas, she climbs into bed without a fight. Before taking off for the morning, I have to clean up her vomit trail. The sour smell burns my nose, and I place my hand over my mouth to keep me from vomiting. Somehow I manage to push through it, sealing up the last of the