Letters Written in White (21 page)
Sitting in the In School Suspension building yet again, I watch the second hand on the clock move at a snail’s pace and roll my eyes. Thank freaking God this is the last year I have to deal with this bullshit called school. Not to mention, I can’t wait to get away from all of these asswipes who think they’re better than me.
“Psst, hey, big K,” Worm whispers, trying to get my attention. I look toward the front of the room first, where Mr. Mason is dozing off, and then turn around.
“What?”
Worm gives me his best
I’m about to do something really stupid
look and says, “Mr. Mason won’t ever know what hit him, man. Lean over so I can get a good shot.”
He’s made a makeshift spitball launcher out of pencils and rubber bands. He puts the balled up paper in his mouth and rolls it around a few times then places it in the center of the pencils and pulls back, aiming right at Mr. Mason’s head. Right then the main door to the building swings open, catching Worm off guard. He twitches and lets the saliva-drenched ball of paper catapult through the air. Everyone who is aware watches it all happen like it’s in slow motion. Lily Evers starts to hand Mr. Mason his attendance files for the day when…smack! The spitball splats right into her very defined and perfect jawbone. The entire classroom gasps and then bursts out into laughter. From the angle that it hit her, she looks straight at me as she attempts to remove Worm’s slime from her face.
I put both hands up in defense with a cocky expression on my face and then ignorantly blurt out, “That’s what good girls get when they venture into bad boy territory.”
The classroom erupts into even more laughter while little Lily Evers digs a six-foot hole, tosses me in, and blankets me with dirt all with just one look. She keeps her composure while Mr. Mason shoots up from his chair, demanding I get up and go to the principal’s office.
Worm pats my shoulder and whispers, “Dude, you’re the most epic best friend a guy could ever have. You just totally saved my ass.”
Franklin Fritz aka Worm has been my best friend since pre-K. As a kid he was obsessed with night crawlers and made himself quite famous for hiding them any and everywhere. Teachers and parents alike found them in places you never want to find worms. Our kindergarten teacher opened her desk drawer one day only to find tons of the slimy, wiggly things, and it scared the shit out of her. Then there were the lunch trays in the cafeteria, the pantry at home, and so on. He earned the nickname Worm at the strapping young age of six, and it has stuck ever since.
“Mr. Arrington, you will go straight to the office this minute and report to Principal Kimble. You will tell him yourself what you just did to the student office aide. You should be ashamed of your constant bad behavior, Kingsley Arrington. You’re a smart boy and you just keep throwing it all away.”
My eyes practically roll out of my head because I’ve heard it all a thousand times. I shift my eyes over toward Lily and she straightens her small five-foot-three frame as she continues looking at me with her death stare.
“Ms. Evers, if you don’t feel comfortable going back to the office while Kingsley makes his way there, you are welcome to wait here.”
She tosses her very long and black blanket of hair over her shoulder and says, “No, Mr. Mason, I can handle myself.”
She turns and looks directly at me. “Bad boys don’t scare me.”
And with that she swings her little hips around and pushes through the door. What a royal bitch.
I throw my messenger bag strap over my shoulder and follow behind her. Tan legs disappear into a jean skirt. The perfectly shaped tight ass in front of me makes me forget all about what a bitch Lily Evers really is. Temporarily, anyway.
COMING SOON...
More by Kathryn Perez
Available Now
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THERAPY
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KINGSLEY
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Trying to thank all of the people who helped make this book possible is a monumental task. I will try to express my gratitude and yet I know I will fail in doing so at the level they all deserve. I apologize in advance.
Jade Grandi
aka AUTHOR CHEERLEADER aka LOYAL FRIEND aka BADASS MOTIVATOR. You my friend are all of this and more. You stood by me when this book was breaking me down. You stood by me when I knew this book was going down a strange and difficult path. You believed in my weirdness. You never stopped believing in Riah’s story. You were her champion in a way. Thank you for that. Thank you for all of it. Thank you really isn’t enough but I want you to know if I had an infinite amount of words to express my gratitude in an adequate way I would spend forever typing the shit out of them just for YOU.
Sarah Dosher
aka THEBESTFRIENDICOULDEVERASKFORINTHISBUSINESSEVER. I said it all at once in my head so I typed it that way just to irritate you. I love irritating you. I just love you, actually. I love you for the person you are and the friend you are. I can ALWAYS rely on you no matter what. You always remind me that there are genuine people in the world because you have displayed that authenticity from the very moment I met you. You always support me in anything I do and I know you always will. You’re reliable like that. Don’t stop being that. Don’t stop being you. I am needy, yah know? If for any other reason, never change because I NEED you.
Colleen Hoover
aka MY MENTOR aka MY MORAL COMPASS aka MY FRIEND. I could say so many things here but I will keep it short because you’re tall. Well, that’s not really why, but that sounded funny to me. I am bad at jokes and taking photos and GIF’s. Why am I telling you and the world this? You already know all of this. You’re the one who told me these things about myself. Gah, you’re not very nice to me, Hoover! JUST KIDDING. No, I am not on drugs as I write this, I’m just avoiding getting mushy and making you vomit in your mouth because I know how you love
(insert sarcasm here)
mush. I love you. You already know why. There’s nothing I can say here that would even remotely do how I feel about you justice anyway. So…POOP.
Chelle Northcutt
aka BETA READER EXTROIDINAIRE aka MY FRIEND. You truly are the most amazing beta reader when it comes to content and I have no clue what I would ever do without your witty and wonderful feedback. I also love your tears. I like to make you cry and you cry so well. Aside from the fact that you are a ROCKSTAR beta, you’re a friend that I love and value. I hope I have the pleasure of making you cry lots more in the future. Not because I hate you but because I LOVE YOU. Oh and there’s always that one porn star I would have never heard of if it weren’t for you. Thanks for that, too.
Megan Kapusta
aka DETAIL NAZI aka BABY LOVER aka MY BETA READING CHEESESTEAK SANDWHICH EATING FRIEND. You are one detailed oriented fool. You pick and you prod and you make me crazy sometimes with all of your details that I never think of. But let’s face it, I LOVE YOU FOR IT. You make me think. You make me dig deeper. You make me better. Not to mention, you let me rant and rave and hyperventilate over shit without ever blinking an eye. You are one calm cookie. Thanks for always being there to ask me the hard questions.
Talon Smith
aka WHERE DID YOU COME FROM YOU BADASS YOU? aka SOUL SISTER aka FELLOW NUTCASE. You read THERAPY and then tumbled into my realm like a firecracker. You were loud and proud and I freaking loved it. I love you. You jumped in with both feet on this book and you were such a lifesaver at times. Thank you for loving HARD. Thank you for being LOUD.
Tera Schumacher
aka SUPERMOM aka TYPO FINDER aka DIDIALREADYSAYSUPERMOM? I really and truly have no clue where you found the time to beta read this book. You just had TWINS! You found things I never saw. You asked questions I would have never asked. You made this book better all while taking care of those TWO brand new humans. Thank you for loving Riah’s story enough to fit her into your busy life. I love you so much.
Louisa Brandenburger
aka FRIEND OF MINE aka BETA READING ROCKSTAR. You swooped in and read through this story to give me another outside opinion without knowing much about the premise of the story. You then swooped in at the very end to help me with the final read through (it is all Louisa’s fault if you all found typos). JUST KIDDING, I will assume all the blame. Thank you for loving this story and for caring enough to make it a priority.
Indie Solutions by Murphy Rae
aka EDITING GENIUS aka SMARTY PANTS aka FRIEND. I am forever indebted to you for your patience and guidance. Thank you for not only doing an incredibly professional job but for teaching me along the way as well. Your brain is kind of big and I am so glad for that. You catch shit my brain would never even see. I love your brain and your heart. They’re both HUGE. In this case, size really matters.
JT Formatting
aka DESIGNER aka BRILLIANT ARTIST aka FRIEND. You have been with me since book number one and I could not ever say I regret it. Never. Not once. You’ve been the champion of the beauty inside all of my books and I hope you always will. Thank you for always working with me. You make the entire process smooth sailing and you always do an incredible job. I love your work and I love you as a person. I’m thankful to have you on my team.
SNOWFLAKES
aka MY READER GROUP aka MY FORCE FIELDS. Each and every one of you means so much to me. Your unwavering support, friendship and love are priceless. I love you all in shades of PURPLE.
MY FAMILY
aka FELIPE aka MOM aka DAD aka REYNA aka NICO. Last but NEVER least I have to thank each of you for being the loves of my life. I would not be the person I am today without all of you. Each one of you owns the key to my heart. Thank you for never giving up on me, for always believing in me and most of all thank for always staying through every storm.
READERS
and
BLOGGERS
. You make the book world go round. You read, you blog, you review and you support the work that we authors bleed our souls into. There is no way I could ever express my gratitude for all you do for authors. Thank you!
To anyone I may have left out, THANK YOU. I know I am forgetting people and I hate it. Please don’t hate me and my forgetful brain. I promise it was not intentional.
KATHRYN LIVES IN her small East Texas hometown with her husband and two children. She is a music infused writer and self-proclaimed book junkie. When she isn't listening to music, writing or reading you will probably find her watching her favorite sport, UFC.
Kathryn is also an anti-bullying advocate and avid supporter of mental-illness and suicide awareness.
You can follow Kathryn on Facebook at
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