Rivals For Breakfast

1| Stepping Stone

Quick Authors Note:

Hello beautiful people! Thank you for giving my book a chance, you have no idea what this means to me [wipes tears] . Give me lots of feedback, this is my first completed novel so throw all the shade you want! I love criticism!!!

I'd like to take a moment to remind anyone reading this book that the ability to read is a wonderful gift that not everyone has been gifted. There are hundreds of millions of children and adults who are not able to read or write and that is truly heartbreaking!

One last warning!!!!!! There will be mature content.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!

Okay enjoy 🤗

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have you ever heard of the cosmos? The story goes that every trillionth happening in the icy palm of the universe has been systematically enticed by the orbit of the cosmos. Every night sky littered with gleaming stardust, every charcoal stained melody that steals our breath, every spectacle of kaleidoscopic secrets, every silencing pin drop of harrowing tears. Every velvety whisper, and graze of sweet lips, and hastening heartbeat, down to the very first time my eyes met his own. There's no serendipity in these fleeting moments. The cosmos, they say, have outlined it all. Written in spacetime far beyond our yearning fingertips, our fates were sealed long ago.

The pounding of my feet is no match for the pounding of my heart. My body approaches the big black gates, but my eyes observe the feathery clouds above me. It's a nice day, I think to myself. The seasons are changing again, the winds are chasing away the last of the cold front. I can already see the green seedlings of leaves soon to come. Spring is here, I'm certain of it. Its a shame I can't feel the same type of certainty toward my own life. Once again, I'm about to take a sharp turn down a dark path.

I stop to catch my breath, but no amount of oxygen can suppress my scathing nerves. I begin to think back to the dreaded conversation I had with my brother just one week ago.

"Ava, are you home?" I hear him yell, his voice resonates down my hallway. I smile because it's been a while since I've heard from him. In fact, if it weren't for the pitiful family pictures that sit on my nightstand, I wouldn't remember what he looks like.

"Upstairs!" I shout back.

"We need to talk!" He says.

He always takes the stairs two at a time. His feet pound against the hardwood, echoing through the house like a faulty drum line. I peek from behind my book and watch him burst through my bedroom door.

"I know this is going to sound crazy," he says "but, I need you to join a gang".

I sit up all at once, throwing the book to the side. Me, join a gang? this must be some sick joke, so why is his face so serious?

"Why the hell would I do that?" I chuckle.

"I wouldn't ask you If it wasn't necessary" He tries on a pout in hopes that it will sway me.

"Okay... what's going on?"

The way his face shifts, I already know I'll never get a clear answer out of him. He's always been like this; secretive and vague. His words do little to connect the dots. It's completely frustrating.

"It's Cole".

Our staring contests are always epic. He trains his glare of death on me and I raise my shoulders in a dismissive shrug, awaiting further explanation. It's only when I let out a disapproving sigh and reach for my book again that he finally says: