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I envy their ti for

Violet I just want to be free in life for once, to hang out without constantly looking overevery time my phone vibrates I want to be able to curl up on the couch with E at each other from across the room with distrust

After kissing Violet again, Luke turns toto a concert after dinner if you want to hang out There’s no fancy bands or anything, just a little garage rock, but it could be fun”

Even though I’d give ht I shakebackwards “I have to work on an assignet my stereo”

Violet twists around and giveslook Neither of them are aware that I’m an informant for the police They think I live in Laraet a new start To theirl who lives upstairs and has stolen ive for them to know my reality

Want

Want

Want

Please, just let me be free

“You two sure have been spending a lot of ti a spoon from the drawer

“We’re just friends” I squeeze past the two of theh E drinker Honestly, with how stressed I am, I could drink both myself

“That’s what I used to say about Luke all the time” Violet flashes me a smirk “And look how that turned out for me Now I’m stuck with him” She winks at Luke who counters with a playful slap on her ass

I shove the beers into the back pockets of n, “And that’s my cue to leave”

I collect my record player from my room and a few ofroom with my arms full

Luke and Violet are cuddling on the sofa with plates of spaghetti and watching TV

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” Violet asks as I maneuver the door open with one hand “It’ll be a lot of fun”

Part of o to the concert, just enjoy the goddaht for once But Doc would flip if he found out I left E her alone, not when so her notes that could be interpreted as threats

Shaking my head, I exit our apartment and climb the stairs to the third floor When I make it back to Emery’s place, she’s , her pena million miles a minute as she stains the paper with ink

When I shut the door, her head whips up “Oh, my word, I didn’t even hear you come in” Her eyes zone in on the record player ininstant, she perks up, her eyes sparkling with exciteht music?”

I nod, setting the player and records down on the coffee table “I brought rab the two beers from my back pockets and put them down next to the record player, “drinks”

She sucks her botto at the beers “What do you plan on doing tonight?” Her voice is off-pitch, nervous, and her eyes are attentive “Because it looks like you have more than homework planned”

I select a record and line it up on the player “I have nothing else planned I just thought this ht help us relax a little”

Her attention zeroes in on me, and her brows elevate “Did et me to warm up to you so I’d trust you?”

I shaketo do with this” I position the needle in line with the record and twist on the power “In fact, I’ you listen to my music I don’t think he’s a fan of punk rock”

“No, probably not He likes old-school stuff, but never let my brother or me listen to it” Emery focuses on the player as the record spins, and “The Curse of Curves” by Cute Is What We Aih the speakers She shuts her eyes and inhales deeply before opening her eyelids again “I like this” She grabs one of the beers, pops the top, and slumps back in the sofa “It’s different… I like different”

“I know you do,” I sign, dying to reach forward and press my lips to hers as I watch her mouth wrap around the top of the bottle

She takes a swig, her face twisting froazes fasten and smolder with heat Finally, she tears her eyes away from mine and fixes her attention onto the beer bottle She tips her head back and takes another long s before setting the bottle between her legs “I don’t want to work on the assignment anymore”

“But I thought you wanted to listen to e of the coffee table When my knees brush hers, her body tenses, yet she doesn’t s

“What I want is to get out of this house,” she utters softly, staring down the hallith her brows knit

I glance overat, but I find the hallway empty and dark

Looking back at her, I raise my hands in front of me “What do you want to do, then?”

She lifts her shoulders and shrugs, looking back at me “Get out of this house I haven’t been allowed out of here except to go to school I’o stir crazy”

“En with reluctance “Your father wants you to stay in until he can figure out who’s leaving you those notes”

“No, he wants o stir crazy and hopes it’ll be enough to drive me home” She bends forward and snatches her pen and notebook froet I asked” She practically stabs the pen through the paper as she begins to scribble words down again

My lips desperately ache to surrender and give her what she wants I want to give her everything she asks for, even if itmy cover Or worse, erously deep

Chapter 2

Don’t Let the Butterfly Out

Emery

Dying, Dying, Dying,

I feel like I’

a slow death

Each day, just a little bit more

tortured

Just like I was back at home

Only it’s different this time

Because I’ myself to die

Holding onto so that will never be

Can never be

Holding, holding, holding

I need to let go

Because in the end,

he was never really what I thought he could be

Unable to stopon the opposite side of the sofa fro at et out of the house He stares at me every day Ever since we found out one another’s true identity, that’s all we do—stare, stare, stare

Right now, he has his head tipped down, absorbed in his writing He looks like an untouchable piece of artwork, so beautifully put together So dangerously put together He’s undeniably gorgeous; with inky black hair hanging in his eyes and facial piercings andhis skin He turns me on in a way I didn’t think was possible and is the exact opposite of Evan, ether, pretty-boy ex-boyfriend

I thought Ryler was different from everyone else in my life Coht in the center of it to be exact He told me he didn’t knoho I e first met, that it was a coincidence we found each other True or not, I can’t seek freedom in him anymore, not when he’s part of what restrained iven by my father In my eyes, Ryler is now an enemy Every time he reminds me of who he rea

lly is, every time he follows my father’s orders, I remind myself to stay away from him

Easier said than done, since I can’t get hinore him, but my body has a built-in Ryler sensor I’lances in my direction, and it makes our situation complicated