Page 1 of Lit Up by My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 1

SIERRA

This is how I'm going to die. Shit. I should have put a bra on today. Yup. I can feel the cold seeping into my body already. Death by fence. And it’s not even electric. God, my wrist aches from that stupid six foot fall. I can’t believe I’m still hanging here. Trapped. Yup. I’m gonna die. Why am I such an idiot, you ask? I ask myself that all the time.

It all started with a stupid game of Never Have I Ever, but…oh, no, not the way you’re thinking. I wasn’t actually playing the game. (I’m too old for that.) I was reading about the game—ahem, bookworm—and I realized that I have never ever done most of the things on the list.

Tattoo? Nope.

Black out drunk? Nope.

Travel out of the continent? Nope.

Been arrested? Nope.

One night stand? Nope.

Spin the bottle? Nope.

But, wait. Before you judge me, I’ll have you know something. If you’re looking for the really hardcore stuff, I’m your girl.

Stayed up all night reading? Two nights out of every week.

Slammed back three cinnamon sweet lattes in one day from the local cafe, Espresso Yourself? Damn straight.

Hid the last four snickerdoodle cookies from her brother so he couldn’t have anymore? Yeah, that was me. Huffs on knuckles. Polishes badge. Okay, yes, I admit to sharing the last one with him. I couldn’t bear to hear his crying. God, I’m not the devil in a dress.

But ya. I’m badass like that. I know. Not everyone can live up to this kind of badassery. It’s a calling.

Ha! But what broke me—for some inexplicable reason—was the last Never Have I Ever prompt.

Snuck into a movie theater? Nope.

I mean, c’mon Sierra, everyone has done that one, haven’t they? It’s so simple. Like literally, you just keep your ticket after your first show is done and casually walk into another movie. It doesn’t even take balls to do that. You just walk in a different direction than you would have normally done after the show ends. Easy!

Ugh. But it’s the ethics of it. I just would never do something like that. And I’ve missed my shot at that now. Since movie theaters sell tickets by the seat, it’d be slightly trickier to sneak into a second movie. I’m sure people do it all the time, but don’t ask me how. And since that Never Have I Ever checkable item requires just that much extra courage, I picked something I thought would be easier. C’mon, I have to do something risky.

So I snuck into a concert playing in my cozy hometown, Lit Creek. Well, we both know that’s overstating it because I haven’t actually snuck into anything yet. Le sigh. And I probably won’t get to because I’m stuck in this damn fence with what I think is a twisted ankle and a painful wrist.

God, this is what I get for trying to prove to myself that I can be cool.

I am so not cool. It’s just not in me. And I have to say, all this cool talk is just ridiculous. What am I, in junior high? I’m a freaking twenty-seven year old adult.Coolshouldn’t even be on my radar anymore. I run my own freaking bakery. That’s right. I’m an independent woman making her dreams come true. I think.

But that damn list got to me. I’m afraid to go down that road right now. Besides, I’ve got bigger fears to fry.

Ridiculously enough, my worst fear right now is not death though. It’s not even the fear of being attacked by coyotes. I’m sure my phone would scare them off, right? I don’t even know. Lie to me, please.

But no, my worst fear right now is somebody discovering me in this predicament and nominating me for The Johnny Board. Oh my God, that would just be the worst.

Let me brief you on an important idiosyncrasy of Lit Creek. Back in the eighties, two guys rolled into our cozy little town and robbed our bank. Our tiny little bank manned—womanned—by Mildred. Who, coincidentally, was also in her eighties. It was a miracle she didn’t keel over in shock at the two gunmen. But (apparently with great poise) she just handed them everything that was in the bank at the time. A whopping eight dollars.

Yes. Eight.

Not even eighty.

Eight dollars.

God, I still can’t get over it, and I wasn’t even there.

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