Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 515(@200wpm)___ 412(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Both were stubborn.
Kraven, on the other hand, didn’t think things through, obviously. His stunt last month playing Evel Knievel wasn’t anything I ever imagined I’d see. I couldn’t help myself. I followed him out to the woods without him noticing me. I was good at trailing people. It truly was a gift and got me out of a lot of trouble when I needed it.
After I heard him rev up the engine as he left the house, my feet moved on their own accord. Yes, part of it was curiosity, and another huge part was that I just had a weird feeling. Perhaps I recognized something inside him that mirrored my own.
Whatever it was, I was there for him at the right time. I don’t think he would have made it back on his own. Now I’d seen some reckless shit in my life, but Kraven’s was on another level, like he had a date with death or something.
Where I chose flight, he was a fighter.
He was definitely battling demons, and I had a feeling the cookbook triggered it.
I kept the recipes hidden in my backpack. I hadn’t made anything else from it, but I did print a few recipes at the library with the food we had for the week. I never thought I’d enjoy cooking as much as I did. I loved being able to offer a craft I had no clue I had. Kraven never ate with us, but it didn’t stop me from making enough food for him, too, and the leftovers were always gone in the morning. Either Julius took it to work with him or Kraven claimed it for school lunch. Yet another question I couldn’t ask.
Watching Kraven fly through the air like he was Superman was a sight to see. Thankfully, the washcloth and water bottle I always had in my backpack came in handy as I slowly woke him up from the fall.
He wasn’t unconscious for very long, and it didn’t look as if he’d broken anything since he landed in an overgrown patch of grass. It was still a harsh impact, and his ribs were the biggest injury. I actually didn’t mind helping him. He looked like he needed a friend too.
I could tell he was popular. He’d bring some people around, mostly girls. He also had that whole bad boy thing going for him, his tattoos sealing the deal. I noticed he already had a few, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he had a fake ID or if he was getting inked in someone’s house, much to Julius’s disapproval. Kraven didn’t give a shit. He did what he wanted without considering the consequences or the people he hurt in the process, particularly his brother.
I wasn’t sure if Julius knew I helped Kraven that night. I didn’t tell him. He was furious enough with how reckless he’d been. Dr. Matthews came over to fix him up. They were lucky to have him as a neighbor. He lectured Kraven the entire time, saying he fractured his ribs and how it could have been much worse.
I was surprised Kraven didn’t cop an attitude with him, making me think he could respect authority despite getting in trouble with it at school. The animosity between the brothers grew increasingly intense as the days passed, especially after this incident.
Julius was convinced that Kraven was doing it on purpose to get a rise out of him, and the odds were that he was right. Nonetheless, there was something deeper, darker, a truth hidden in plain sight with both of them, one they wouldn’t give power to. Maybe it was those secrets that drew me to them, making it easy to find them in a crowd. They each stood out in their own way.
When Julius’s eyes bore into mine, finding me from a distance, it made me catch my breath. He walked over to me with that same swagger and confidence he exuded every time we were together. It was another thing I liked about him. He was consistent and never put on a phony act to impress anyone around him.
I knew in my heart he wasn’t showing me anything other than who he was, and I tried not to let him get to me.
But in reality, he was.
I loved having a friend, although I didn’t know the meaning of the word, having never experienced it before him. I quickly understood it was a personal feeling that was indescribable. Over the past two months since we met, it still felt as if I’d known him forever. Every day that went by was another gift of having him in my life.
Once his tall, muscular stature towered over my much smaller frame, he gazed down at me with the same sincere expression he always wore. There was something about him, since day one, that I couldn’t tear my gaze away from. A magnetic pull that I was instantly drawn to.