Damaged In-Law by Colleen Masters Read Free Book Online Page B

bookshelf. In a few short months, I ’ ll
get my chance to reinvent myself, be whatever kind of artist I like. But this
might be the only chance Avery gets. And I ’ ll be damned if
I take that away from her. Even if that means giving up on Jack, once and for
all.
    I glance back through the french doors leading out onto the
balcony just as Jack ’ s eyes swing my way. My heart
clenches painfully as our eyes lock over Avery ’ s tanned
shoulder. I manage to muster a weak smile before turning my back on them and
resolutely walking away.
     

     
    “Please, Callie!” Avery pleads, clutching my hands as she
bounces on the balls of her high-heeled feet. “Just come with me real quick. I
don ’ t want to look at the cast list by myself!”
    “Ave, I ’ m gonna be late for student
council,” I tell her, trying and failing to free my hands. She may be tiny, but
she ’ s got quite the death grip, my sister.
    Two weeks have flown by, and auditions for Romeo and
Juliet are all wrapped up. The cast list was posted right after school
ended, ten minutes ago. It wasn ’ t easy, watching all my
classmates taking their cracks at Shakespeare while I signed up to be on the
crew. Again. But after seeing how excited Avery was about the prospect of
playing Juliet, I had to take myself out of the running. Besides, it ’ s not like I would have actually gotten the part. The only
acting I ’ ve done has been for an audience of one (myself)
on a very closed set (my own bedroom). I have no idea if I ’ m
even any good.
    “Couldn ’ t you blow off the geek squad
just this once?” Avery goes on, fixing her brown eyes on mine. The gold flecks
in her irises are glinting with hopes of stardom. Her excitement is more than a
little contagious. “If I don ’ t get the part, I ’ m going to need a shoulder to cry on. And if I do get
it, I ’ m going to need a drinking buddy!”
    I tamp down a flare of panic, imagining my sister drinking
alone at three in the afternoon. It wouldn ’ t be
unprecedented.
    “Why don ’ t you head over and look at
the cast list with Jack?” I suggest, “I ’m sure he’ s dying
to see it, too.”
    “Oh, please,” Avery laughs, flicking a perfect blonde curl
over her shoulder. “We all know he ’ s got Romeo in the bag.
And besides, I don ’ t want my best bro to be there with me.
I want my sister.”
    And just like that, I ’ m a goner. I ’ ve never been able to deny Avery anything she ’ s
wanted, be it my company, my shot at a role in the school play, or even the
object of my hopeless romantic fantasies. I know I ’ m not
doing her—or our relationship—any favors, caving to her every whim. But she ’ s been denied so much else in her life: a loving home, justice,
self-esteem, safety. How can I deny her something as simple as this?
    “OK,” I give in, lacing my fingers through hers. “Let ’ s go.”
    Avery lets out an excited shriek and tugs me away from my
locker. We race along side-by-side, her heels clicking as my combat boots pound
against the halls of our high school. Laughing like lunatics, we round a corner
and hurtle toward the drama department. All the other Verona hopefuls have come
and gone by the time we skid to a halt in front of the cast list hanging on the
door of the theater.
    I run my eyes down the list of names and character
assignments. The first entry in no surprise to me at all:
     
    Romeo Montague: Jackson Cole
     
    Avery lets out a gasp, her fingers tightening around mine. I
follow her eyes to the next row of text:
     
    Juliet Capulet: Avery Benson
     
    The tiny twinge of regret I feel upon reading my sister ’ s name next to Juliet ’ s is immediately
replaced by joy as she throws her arms around me. I squeeze her as tightly as I
can, jumping up and down as we both babble ecstatically. Her smile could light
up an entire theater, all the way to the back row—and soon enough it
will. 
    “Holy crap! Holy crap! ” she breathes, planting a big,
lip-glossy kiss