I feel warm inside, and I want to squirm in my seat. Whenever he walks by, I feel my heart beating faster from excitement. I have no idea if I’ll like Jake as a person, but I certainly love how he looks without his shirt. He’s got cheerleaders climbing all over him, and I’ve been watching him long enough to know that he goes for tall blond girls, not short brunettes.īesides, for now it’s kind of fun to just enjoy the attraction. Jake and I don’t run in the same circles. He’s the quarterback and the hottest guy on the planet-or at least in the Chicago suburb of Oak Lawn, Illinois. I’m not the only girl watching Jake, of course. Out there on that field, practicing every day. Something I know nothing about, but pretend I love because that’s where I see him. “Nora, come on, this is boring,” Leah says as we sit on the bleachers watching the game. I’m seventeen years old when I first meet him. I wake up screaming his name, my sheets soaked through with cold sweat.įor a moment, I’m disoriented. He lifts the knife one last time, and the pool of blood turns into an ocean, the rip current sucking me in. Inhuman shrieks of pain and agony that slice me open, leaving my mind as raw and mangled as her flesh. I want to move, but I’m restrained, tied in place, the ropes cutting into my skin as I struggle against them. I want to scream, but I can’t draw in enough air. I’m drowning in blood, suffocating in it. I can taste it, smell it, feel it covering me. The pool of dark red liquid on the floor is spreading, multiplying.

Twist Me by Anna Zaires