Dark and Twisted by Heidi Acosta Read Free Book Online Page A

leans in for a kiss, but Liv blocks him with a hand in the air.
    “Eden, you didn’t!”
    I give her an innocent look.
    “But why? You know that the fosters are nothing but trouble. Besides, he gives me the creeps.” She looks over to where Jaxson sits by himself, his head buried in a sketch book and pencil moving feverishly across the paper.
    What is he working on? I shiver and turn back to Liv.
    “How do you know it was Jaxson? Maybe I was with Cardelian. He’s a foster and doesn’t give you the creeps. You said he was hot,” I say.
    Jamie’s face falls. “You think Cardelian is hot?”
    Liv shoots me a death glare before placing her arms through Jamie’s. “Not as hot as you, babe.” She leans over and kisses him on the cheek, which seems to satisfy him.
    “It was Jaxson. Brett and Derrick saw you going out back with him. They also told me about the thing you got going on with Sweaty Eddie.” Jamie wiggles his eyebrows and reaches for the chicken sandwich. Liv slaps his hand, and he lets go of the chicken sandwich and takes a salad instead.
    “Eddie? What happened with Eddie?” Liv turns to me.
    “Wait, Derrick and Brett told you about Eddie today?” I ask, ignoring Liv.
    Jamie just shrugs like it’s no big deal, but it is. I’m okay with them talking about me. I can defend myself, but poor Eddie. That’s just low.
    “They are soulless creatures,” I grumble and grab a chocolate pudding cup.
    “They are desperate to be in the in-crowd, and they’ll do just about anything for a way in.” Jamie pops a cherry tomato in his mouth and shrugs again. “Even giving up dirt on you.”
    I frown at him, “but that doesn’t make it right,” I argue as I pay for my lunch.
    “He does have a point, Eden. I don’t agree with it, but that’s the way things work here in Copake Falls,” Liv chimes in.
    We sit down at our table, and I immediately go for my pudding cup, peeling off the lid and licking the chocolaty goodness. It helps a little with my bad mood.
    “You can’t get mad about it. That is just how cliques work, no matter where you’re from.”
    Liv begins to school me on what I already know, but I sit there like a good student and listen anyway.
    “Eden this is a small school, and when you add in the aspect of living in a small farm town in the middle of nowhere, with the high school body a whopping one hundred and ninety-two …” Liv trails off and glances around the room. “Then you have to start adding in bloodlines, and whose grandpapa is who? What family works for whose family,” Jamie picks up where Liv left off. “You see, Eden, it doesn’t necessarily matter how pretty your clothes are or who you’re friends with. If you’ve got a tainted family tree, well, then you will always be an outcast. Bad blood just doesn’t sit well with folks around here.” Jamie takes a huge bite out of his salad, Liv’s mouth drops open at Jamie’s comment.
    “I already knew all of this.” I can only begin to imagine what a social outcast my father was when he attended school here. Even my grandmother is not exempt from the shunning, and she is one of the wealthiest women in town. She practically disowned us and lives clear across town, yet she still gets looks and whispers behind her back. Why would anyone want to stay in a place where they’re not wanted and are mocked on a daily basis? It was like they were stuck by some sort of magical pull that kept my family from moving on. No longer hungry, I push my lunch tray away.
    Liv mouth snaps shut, and her words cut through my morbid thoughts. “Jamie, I can’t believe you would say that,” she gasps.
    “What? Babe, com’on. I’m just telling her the truth. Don’t be mad at me. It’s just how things are done around here. You can’t change them.”
    Liv folds her arms over her chest and glares at Jamie, but he doesn’t seem to notice because the football team is a few tables down, having a milk chugging contest.
    “Babe I gotta go.”