The Years After Read Online Free Page B

majority of her time. “No. Well, I don’t think so. I don’t know anything about him. Other than he’s hot. Very, very hot.”
    “Don’t do this, Liv. Don’t be your normal self. We’re only a week into school. Trust me, you didn’t find your soul mate. There are dozens, no, hundreds of hot, available guys around here. You don’t have to settle for one. Or start pining for this one. You’ll meet a lot more. So just… go screw him. Or not. But don’t talk like we’re little girls in middle school, and our crush just said hi to us today. Okay? You really need to get out more, and see a lot more guys.”
    Olivia studied Kylie as she started gathering her things to go into the bathroom, hopefully, to shower off some of the makeup that still streaked her face. “Oh? Because that worked out so well for you last year?”
    “I don’t want to talk about last year.”
    “You don’t think it’s directly related to Vampire Kylie?”
    “I think it’s none of your business, little cuz. Don’t try to read into things that you don’t know about.”
    Olivia flipped around to ignore Kylie. She could be so cutting with her statements. She didn’t used to be. She used to be the sweetest person. They were best friends ever since her parents adopted her and introduced them to her as her cousins. From eight years old and on, it was her, Kylie and her sister, Ally. Best Friends Forever. Except they were the real deal. Ally was a year older than Kylie, and two years older in school. She lived with other juniors in an apartment off campus.
    She waited for the door to shut. But it didn’t. She turned around and Kylie was standing there, clutching her stuff. She dropped her things and stepped forward to hug Olivia against her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Any of it. I love you. I love everything about you. Don’t change. Don’t ever change, okay? And especially, never for some guy. No matter what.”
    “Okay,” she whispered to Kylie’s strange, desperate tone. “BFFs forever, remember? Hot guys or not.”
    “I always remember. Every day.” Kylie turned without another word and left. Olivia stared after her. She had a rough freshman year. Or at least, everyone surmised that because she changed mid-year and it happened almost overnight. She remained introspective for a few months, only to reemerge as this… angry, rebellious, and fierce girl. Kylie’s mom tried to pry out what happened, but Kylie would never really say, no matter who asked.
    She shook off the latest encounter. Kylie was obviously rebelling and experimenting, which was fine, so long as she didn’t expect Olivia to do it with her. She wasn’t getting tattoos or dying her hair strange colors. Kylie recently started a huge tattoo on her lower back and every few months or so, she added more to it. It was a black line that looked like her back was cracking open. It was odd and strange, and big, which kind of described everything that Kylie was nowadays. Olivia wasn’t hooking up with random college boys, or girls, either. Kylie was experimenting in every facet of her personality. She had some chick in there over the weekend, and it wasn’t for a friendly session of girl-talk either.
    Olivia wasn’t looking for that. She was here on a scholarship she cherished. It was, to date, her crowning accomplishment. She was so proud at being picked for her ability to play the flute. It made her feel a little guilty because her parents could afford to send her to college, but she was so honored by the scholarship, she intended to make sure she paid tribute to it. She grabbed her things and shut Kylie and the hot guy out of her mind. Placing the instrument to her lips, she soon forgot everything but how it felt to play as she lost herself in the soft, lilting notes she created.
    ****
    He was there again. Her heart started racing and her hands began sweating when she entered the lecture hall. There sat Derek Salazar in the same seat as yesterday. He