Page 29 of Relapse
Just watches.
Okay, male Karen, don’t kill my vibe.
I’m about to flip him off on principle when somebody slams directly into my shoulder.
“Holy shit.”
The voice is female. Breathless.
Startled enough that I turn immediately, and freeze.
The girl staring at me looks like she walked straight out of some rave goddess fever dream.
Tiny blue outfit barely hanging onto her body, dark hair pulled into impossibly long twin ponytails, rhinestones glittering across her chest and cheeks while white thigh-highs disappear into chunky pastel sneakers dusted with sand.
But none of that’s what catches me.
It’s her expression.
Pure fucking shock.
She’s staring at me like she’s seen a ghost.
Her lips part slightly.
“Brynne?”
The name hits me hard enough to sober me for half a second.
My stomach tightens instantly.
The girl blinks once.
Then again.
Confusion cracks across her face before realization slowly settles in.
“Oh my god,” she breathes, eyes widening. “Wait, no..”
No shit.
Last time I checked anyway.
“Uh,” I say intelligently. “No. I’m her sister,”
That snaps her out of it enough to laugh suddenly, hand flying to her forehead.
“Jesus Christ,” she mutters. “Sister. Right, Sorry, you just—”
“Look like your dead friend who just so happens to be my sister?”
“Kind of, yeah.”
Cool.
Fantastic opener.
Love making first impressions through shared trauma.
