causticgit
Cover image
Synopsis
Janine had a good thing going. She was sleeping with the hot college guy next door, and her family was stable, if not happy. Suddenly her father’s turned ultra-religious and her evil step-sister is back in town. To make matters worse, Saul returns from spring break with a new appreciation for the law–the law of consent. Now cut loose from her no-strings-attached arrangement, she journals her progress through teenage hell on a blog community so obscure no one will ever find it. Until they do, and suddenly her anonymous postings are the latest poster child for the downfall of American morality.
Already struggling with loyalty, privacy, friendship and love, Janine needs to work out for herself what sex means to her–and how far she is willing to go to defend her position.
Excerpt
Preamble
May
I’m wearing a white dress. A ball gown. It’s puffy and it itches. It doesn’t fit right. It wasn’t made for someone my shape. I can’t breathe.
The doors are opening. He’s standing there, holding his arm out to me. He looks so, so happy. And I just want to vomit.
I take a step forward.
I want to run away. I want to tear off this big white dress and run. I want to empty my stomach right here and be taken to the nurse’s office. I want to call my mom.
“Janine,” he smiles at me. He’s waiting.
I can’t breathe.
The first thing I do when I wake up is take a deep gasp.
I lie there for a moment, feeling the makeup and dried tears still caked on my face. I’m on my bed, at home, but I’m not safe. Before I can talk myself out of it, I sit up, yank my laptop over, and start typing.
