Page 1 of Beauty Beneath the Sorrow
Chapter One
Lina
The banging sound on my sister’s bedroom wall alerts me that she has a guy over again. When I let her move in with me three months ago for her first year at college, I didn’t imagine I’d get a front-row seat to her many sexual escapades.
“Zoe!” I pound on the door. “Tell Asher he’s got to go! You have class in the morning.”
I stay perched in the hallway with my luggage at my side, ensuring my little sister’s boy toy leaves. The door swings open, and I’m face to face with a guy who is not Asher, the one who’s been the most recent visitor to frequent our place the last few weeks.
“Who the fuck are you?” I ask him as he pulls his shirt down while swinging his backpack over his shoulder.
“Who thefuckisAsher?” He tosses over his shoulder as he heads downstairs and out the door.
“Bye, Pete!” Zoe pops up a quick wave while leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom.
With a disapproving look, I shake my head at her.
“What?”
“You disgust me.” I wheel my suitcase into my room across the hall.
With only a bra and shorts on, she’s quick behind me. “What?”
“Another guy, Zoe?” I raise my upper lip.
She giggles. “Like you have any room to judge,big sister.”
I sit on the edge of my bed and slide off both heels. Leaning over, I rub the bottom of my foot as it aches from being in it for the last three days.
“Look, I’m all about getting your rocks off with different guys, but before you start bringing them into my house, make sure you know them well first.”
She crosses her arms at her chest. “I usually try to send them away before you get home.”
“That doesn’t make it better!” I snap. “I don’t want random people in my house, especially when I’m away.”
“What’s the point in living with my—mucholder flight attendant sister if I can’t pretend this is my place when you’re gone?”
Becoming a flight attendant satisfies my need to continue to run from my problems, and the darkness that’s become a permanent passenger in my life—doesn’t seem to be enough anymore. I want more control. Now, I want to fly the fucking planes.
“What the hell, I’m only twenty-six! If you and your horny little eighteen-year-old body want to stay here, you need to remember the rules we discussed at the beginning of the school year.” I lift off the bed and head into the closet. “Now, if you need a refresher—”
“Save me the parent talk. I remember,” she interrupts as a palm fliesinto the air.
“Fabulous.” I peek my head out from around the wall with a wide smile. “So, how was it?”
“Meh.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Pete has been sitting next to me in Philosophy all semester and has been so obvious about jumping my bones—”
My eyebrows pitch together. “Wouldn’t it beyoujumping his bones?”
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter. He wanted to get it for like forever,” she continues. “And he’s super cute, so we made a deal.”
“A deal?”
“Yeah. If he writes my papers this year, I will sleep with him after each one,” Zoe tells me as if it’s a typical business transaction.
“Your dad will be so proud you’re taking your business and marketing skills and applying them to real life.” I smirk.
What my sister is doing would give most people a little bit ofick,but I’ve got to hand it to her—it’s a brilliant idea. In college, I made exchanges like this, mostly for math tutoring—and mine wasn’t as organized as hers seems to be. I’ve always been terrible with math.
