Page 62 of Fifty First Times (Sharing You 0.40)
For the first time since her exile from home, Lyra felt that tomorrow couldn’t come fast enough. She marveled at how quickly that tiny kernel of sentiment had taken root and bloomed into something more.
Perhaps the gods hadn’t been so perverse after all.
About the Author
MELISSA LANDERS writes romantic science fiction for teens and the young at heart. Look for her Alienated series, now available from Hyperion. Additionally, she publishes adult contemporary romance for Penguin Random House and Sourcebooks under the name Macy Beckett. She loves to hear from readers, and you can find both of her personas on Facebook and Twitter.
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How to Be a Heart Breaker
LAUREN LAYNE
One
THERE ARE ALL of these books and movies about good girls gone wrong. What’s that about?
Actually, I think I know what it’s about, and even worse, I’ve seen it happen.
Take Lisa Kelley.
Graduated from my high school two years before me. Cheerleader, debate club champion, and salutatorian. Went to Arizona State on a cheerleading scholarship (yup, that’s a thing), and where is Lisa Kelley now, you ask?
Jail. I’m not even kidding. She and her boyfriend robbed a Lovers Package shop.
Actually, that last part is urban legend. But Lisa Kelley’s definitely in jail. For something. Her parents go to church with my parents, and my mom does a lot of praying for poor Lisa’s soul.
But I digress.
Lisa Kelley is just one of many pretty, perfect girls who went all wrong-side-of the tracks. And for what? Because they got tired of being likable and respected? They up and decided that being eligible for a good job sounded unappealing?
Or did they think, Hey, I’ve got a great idea . . . why don’t I deliberately make life difficult for my parents and people that care about me?
I don’t get that.
Look at Pollyanna, the relentlessly optimistic preteen from that sixties movie. Sure, she gets a bad rap for being, oh, I don’t know . . . kind of annoying. But I like to think she had the right idea by being optimistic and refined. And yes, she did have that little bad-tempered setback when she (spoiler alert!) fell out of the freaking tree. But did that drive her to go get a tramp stamp of a dragon on her lower back? Do you see Pollyanna doing body shots and making out with girls just to get a rise out of Aunt Polly?
No. No, you do not.
Now, I’m not a Pollyanna. At least not in the unending optimism type of way. Truth be told, I’m a bit of a cynic, although only in private.
But I am a good girl.
That’s right.
My name is Annie Gilmore, and I’m a good girl. And proud of it.
Case in point? It’s Sunday night, and everyone else in the dorm is either watching TV or eating ice cream or gossiping. Me? I’ve been on the phone with my mother for the past forty minutes, like I am every Sunday night.
“And you’re staying on top of your studies?” Mom asks.
I lightly bonk my head against the wall of the stairwell where I’ve hunker
ed down with my cell phone for some privacy from my roommate.
“Yes, I’m staying up on my studies. We’re only a week into spring semester. How behind could I be?”
“Well, this is your chance to get ahead. Your father and I aren’t paying to have you flunk out.”
