While her best friend Cassidy snacks on brie and boys in France, Darcy Li-Quinn must face her last year of high school and the unpredictable wrath of her sister, Danica, alone. Darcy's plan for dealing with Danica and her heinous friends is simple-b...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Danica Li-Quinn loves having all the things, all the people, and all the attention to herself. She generally doesn't thrive on sharing. Or empathy. Or truth telling (unless it's of the viciously brutal kind). Dani's hard-wired to be an only child. Which is problematic, considering she's my sister.
Problematic but predictable. So predictable that I don't bother being surprised when I come downstairs at 6:15am to find her waiting in the kitchen. The keys to our shared car dangle from her fingers; a small silver Audi I'm six months too young for and which she's only allowed to drive if she gives me a lift wherever I need to go.
For insanely smart people, my parents are ridiculously naïve.
Dani sits on a white barstool at the island bench, silently watching me pack my lunch. As always, she's impeccably put together—make-up subtle and flawless, a jet black waterfall of hair spilling neatly over her shoulders, and her favourite coconut body lotion tickling my nose. With Dani wearing it, the standard navy, green and white school dress and blazer combo attains a level of style it really doesn't deserve. I'm the contrasting 'before' picture—face bare, top knot messy, and hem hastily fastened into place with three wonky staples.
"Want a lift?" Her tone is deceptively friendly.
"No, thank you." I pop an extra chocolate chip cookie into my chiller bag just in case someone tries to steal mine today.
"Oh, I wasn't offering to drive you. I'm meeting Tamsin and Pia for brekkie before school."
"Enjoy." I smile sweetly.
She frowns, annoyed I've failed to take the bait. But this isn't my first rodeo, and Dani's been trying to buck me off the proverbial bronco since kindergarten.
"Is your new boyfriend driving you to school?" The edges of her amiable façade crack like burnt sugar.
"No."
"It won't last," she sneers. "You can't seriously think a guy like Hunter Viera is going to be satisfied with a girl like you."
"Whatever, Dani." I fill my drink bottle with cold water from the fridge and slip it into my bag.
"You had no right to go there, Darcy." She's openly angry now. "You knew I wanted him."
"He's not an accessory, Dani. You can't call dibs on a human being."
"You're such a deceitful cow. I hope he gives you herpes."
Charming.
I sling my schoolbag over my shoulder and make to move out of the kitchen, but Danica beats me to it, shoving me in the back as she storms past. She yanks the front door open just as the doorbell rings, no doubt ready to vent her frustration at whoever is on the other side.
"Rude! Do you know how early it... Hh... H... Hunter. Hh... Hi."
"Morning, Danica." His voice is deep and unfairly attractive. "You ready, babe?" He directs the 'babe' over Dani's shoulder at me with the hint of a smirk.
