Crossed Stars: A retelling of Romeo and Juliet (Oak Hills Book 1) by Penelope Freed

Author:Penelope Freed [Freed, Penelope]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

Romeo

I hear him before I see him. Marcus emerges from the house singing at the top of his lungs, mashing up Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back for the benefit of the entire street. His sister Melody trails behind, cringing before she dashes to my car.

“Shut up, Marcus!” Melody smacks his arm as he swings into the front seat. “You were the one who said we had to be quiet.” Crossing her arms, she scowls and settles into the back seat. I glance at her in the rear-view mirror. Her sharp cheekbones and aristocratic nose give her away as Marcus’ sister, even before their matching golden blonde hair and blue eyes. She’s only fifteen months younger than us, but a trick of birthday timing means that she’s going into her sophomore year while we’re headed into our senior year.

Of course, with an older brother like Marcus, having an extra year of cushion between them is for the best. Our teachers need the year to recover from Marcus before they take on Melody. She’s not as loud as him, but she gets shit done without anyone ever realizing it was her.

She scares me, to be honest.

“Did I say that, sister dearest?” He bats his eyelashes at her in the rear-view mirror. I catch a glimpse of her sticking her tongue out in response. “I merely meant that you shouldn’t stomp down the stairs in those god awful shoes. You were giving me a headache.”

“Ass.”

Marcus twists in his seat to admire his own backside. “It’s not quite America’s, but it’s making a good run at being classified as Oak Hills finest.”

They bicker the whole drive, as usual, only stopping when I pull over onto the side of the gravel road we’ve been driving on for the last few miles. “Enough already, let’s go.” The air is cooler down here by the river, but that’s not what has me impatient to get out of the car.

Juliet is waving at me from the edge of the water, the sun shining on her porcelain skin. Rosie, Benny, and Nikki are standing on the rocks near her—Benny and Nikki sneaking glances at each other behind Juliet’s back. Steph and Fritz are on the other side of the creek, gathering firewood.

I don’t hear Tia anywhere, interesting.

Grabbing the bag of snacks I stowed in my Jeep, I pick my way down the rocky bank to join them. Showing Jules all the best out of the way places in Oak Hills this summer has been magical. Making sure no one finds out that we’re dating is harder than I expected. Juliet is terrified if we get caught she’ll be sent back to her parents and I don’t want to think what my dad would do to me if he found out.

But she’s worth anything he could dish out.

The smile that lights up Juliet’s face when I get close reminds me why I’m willing to risk everything for her. And the way she still makes my heart stop every time I kiss her? I’d jump through a thousand more hoops if that was my reward.

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