Broken by A. E. Rought - Sample Chapters

Bree Ransom.

I click to accept the call, then hold it to my ear and try walking and talking without tripping in the fading light. “Hey, Bree, wassup?”

“Loitering is against the law, you know.” I can almost hear her eyes roll. Bree’s one of the few people who understands why I spend so much time outside of the cemetery.

“Only if I get caught.”

“Well, that’ll never happen. That neighborhood you hang out by is dead quiet.” OK. So Daniel and I aren’t the only ones to crack inappropriate jokes. The snap of a pop can opening punctuates her sentence.

“Those people aren’t going to tattle on you.”

“You won’t either.” I hop a pile of leaves on the sidewalk.

“Who am I to break up your mournfest? Just tell me you’re willing to wear a costume to the dance Saturday and I’ll quit pestering you.” The papery sound of flipping pages comes through the phone. Knowing Bree, she’s paging through the sale flyer for the popup Halloween store in downtown White River. “We can coordinate if you give me enough time.”

Which is exactly why I hadn’t said anything. Bree might be a genius in the costume and make-up department – comes with the territory for a theater major – but she’s not a miracle worker. The longer I hedge, the less time she has to force me into being a Zombie Twin, or Bad Faery Twin, or Whateverelse Twin she’s plotting on subjecting me to. With us both being about five-foot-five, with blonde hair – mine natural,