Samara: A Kilenya Romance

Author's Note:

Yay for new books! This one was sooooo much fun to write! I hope you love it. :-) I'll be posting the first half in increments (it's not a long story). If you'd like the entire book, it's available from Nook, Kindle, or other eReaders for $0.99.

 - Andrea

Samara

A Kilenya Romance

Andrea Pearson

 Copyright 2011 Andrea Pearson

Book design and layout copyright 2011 Andrea Pearson

Cover design copyright 2011 Andrea Pearson

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 This is a work of fiction, and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are represented fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

 

To my husband For his unwavering affection and patience. I love you!

Out of several strong candidates, I, Samara Oldroyd, was selected to manage a car-full of siblings on a four-hour road trip.

 Okay, I’m kidding. I say the stupidest things sometimes for a sixteen year old. I was the only candidate, since I’m the only kid in my family who mostly does smart things.

 Crunch.

 I could taste the cheese dust in the air. It was making me sick.

 Crunch.

 I put my book down when Molly, my older sister, growled loudly, clenching her fists around the wheel. “C’mon, Cale!” she shrieked, starting the umpteenth mini-battle. “Knock it off!”

 Cale, sitting behind her, kicked her seat. “I’m not doing anything—just eating my Cheetos!”

 Maybe it was his fault the war started. He was only six, but he certainly helped Molly shriek a lot. And Molly’s screams could shatter glass.

 “Yeah, and you’re crunching way too loud. And stop kicking my seat!” She reached behind her, grabbing his leg, and the car swerved.

 I frantically lunged for the wheel. “Eyes on the road, Molly.”

 “We’re going to die!” ten-year-old Grayden yelled from the seat next to Cale. “Mom! Save us!”

 “No, we’re not,” Molly said, hands finally at ten and two. “Argh! I’m so sick of little brothers!” She glanced at me. “Samara, please, control them.”

 Like that was possible. I rolled my eyes.

 I couldn’t wait to get to the cabin for our annual family reunion. We usually drove together in the SUV, but it was in the shop for a week, and Dad had decided to drive his car with Mom, having Molly follow behind. Bad choice. With how hyper the boys were, even if I’d been driving, things wouldn’t have gone any better.

 Crunch.

 Cale started eating his Cheetos again, and Molly’s knuckles on the wheel turned white.

 “I swear, I’m going to kill him,” she said.

 “No, you’re not.”

 I slumped in my seat and looked out the window, watching the trees speed past. There was only one thing I could think of to use as a distraction. I braced myself because this topic was so shockingly boring I’d probably nod off and fall out of the car or something. I sighed and turned to Molly. “Tell me more about this guy you’re having come.”

 Molly perked up and started gushing. “Oh, he’s so hot! And Samara, he’s not like any of the other guys I’ve dated. I mean, he’s really hot and smart! He’s always top of the class, he’s athletic, he’s nice . . .”

 I tuned her out. She’d started repeating information I already knew, and I hadn’t really wanted to learn more about this “mystery man” she started dating a week ago. Molly went through guys like a bee goes through flowers, flitting from one to the other and back again. The only reason I didn’t already know this boyfriend was because she’d just moved out to go to college and had met him there.

 “And I can’t believe I’m actually dating someone younger than me, you know? I mean, he’s in high school!”

 “Yeah, it’s not a crime,” I said. “You’re still seventeen.”

 “But in college already. It’s just weird!”

 “Attraction doesn’t always pay attention to age.”

 She looked at me with a huge grin on her face. “And man, is he hot! You know, the other day . . .”

 I tuned her out again.