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PROLOGUE

VIOLA

Once upon a ti princess aited a prince ould give her everything she ever dreamed of… love, passion, loyalty He’d be the sweetest, kindest, irl could ever ask for And he’d be perfect

…Excuse me while I vomit

There is absolutely, positively, no way that a man like that exists on this earth I used to think he was, but of course, I was proven wrong I was young and naive, and didn’t know any better

And he was Travis King

I remember how clear the sky was as I sat onaway and the start of ht around the corner The stars were super bright and as I counted the from the house across from mine He did that a lot and occasionally, I’d see Travis through theof his bedroo, as if it was soo to his bedroo it behind hi him intently as his hands balled into fists at his sides

When the Kings moved across the street from us, Travis and my older brother, Drew, instantly beca into their first year of high school and I was sad I wouldn’t be at the same school as them anymore Well, mostly about Travis Drew hadalong, but Travis never made me feel like I was a nuisance

As I watched him kick the dirt on the sidewalk, he looked up at er in his eyes My breath stilled as he watched me watch hi on him

Instead, he walked across the street, climbed up the trellis and sat down next towhile, but then he finally turned and spoke

“I hate my dad sometimes”

“Why does he get so mad?” I asked

He looked away and rested his arms over his bent knees “He drinks Sometimes too much”

“Does he hurt you?” He didn’t look at me “Or your mother?”

He winced “No Just yells”

We sat in silence, both lying on our backs as we looked up at the stars The sky above us, the stars so bright and big

“You can sit up here anytime, you know? My parents won’t mind”