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Chapter One

Paisley

22 Ditch responsibilities and head to the beach

Breathe and drop the towel That’s what people did at the beach, right? They wore swimsuits and didn’t hide behind enormous beach towels You can do this I could be fierce I used to be, I just had to remember how

I sucked the hu salt frohter

“She was afraid to come out of the locker She was afraid that so next to me, her southern drawl even more pronounced than mine

“You hush up,” I whispered I was e a scene

“You proed at the towel, but I held firm

I sed, trying to keep lunch in my stomach “I know, and I’ll do it I just need a minute”

Her exaggerated sigh did nothing to cal suit”

“It’s a bikini, Morgan, which ismy toes into the white sand

“You’ve got an a deal” She adjusted her sunglasses and pulled back her ebony hair, her towel long since replaced by unwavering confidence I reed to a two-piece, but my boy shorts and a halter-style tankini top covered a heck of a lot le confection “Look, it’s our one day away fro before classes start This was your idea”

“Right” Yes, one day of wildness, freedom, where I wasn’t just a Donovan Besides, the beach was the easiest box to check on the bucket list, and I was down to 231 days

“Paisley, no one cares who you are here or what you’re wearing There are no expectations but your own, just another college girl at the beach Pretend you’re not…you know…you” She waved her hand at me “Now drop that towel before I pitch a fit”

Pretend Yeah, I could do that Deep breath I straightened o of the towel like she wasn’t Now, if only I could have shed an nodded with approval, and we headed toward a group of acquaintances from school

“Hey, y’all!” Morgan called, laying out our beach towels at the edge of the group I gave a san clai for a while I sprawled out onmyself in it I was never allowed to be this exposed at hoh the sunshine

I ran er down the line of my sternum No, I’d bare this little bit of skin while it was still pretty, before I let the surgeons get their hands on it And really, it didn’t matter what the outside offrom the inside