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Back Of Curses and Kisses Save as PDF
Chapters (24)
  1. Cover
  2. Map of the Town of St. Rosetta
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. CHAPTER 1
  6. CHAPTER 2
  7. CHAPTER 3
  8. CHAPTER 4
  9. CHAPTER 5
  10. CHAPTER 6
  11. CHAPTER 7
  12. CHAPTER 8
  13. CHAPTER 9
  14. CHAPTER 10
  15. CHAPTER 11
  16. CHAPTER 12
  17. CHAPTER 13
  18. CHAPTER 14
  19. CHAPTER 15
  20. CHAPTER 16
  21. CHAPTER 17
  22. CHAPTER 18
  23. Acknowledgments
  24. About the Author

Isha didn’t respond for a full minute and Jaya let her have her space. Isha had a short fuse; it burned fiery hot when she was angry, but cooled down fast too. Jaya, on the other hand, was a slow burn, content to let the embers of anger simmer for months before she took action.

Sure enough, Isha turned to her a minute later, smiling slightly. “You’re right; let’s let it go. I think I’m going to like it here. I’ve already made a ton of friends on my floor. And Raina, that girl who was talking to me in the common room? I think she has best friend potential.” She threaded her hand through Jaya’s and Jaya squeezed her fingers.

They walked in relative silence the rest of the way, inhaling the fresh, cool breeze rolling off the mountains in the distance as they huddled closer to ward off the encroaching chill. Lake Rosetta was off to their right somewhere, buried deep in the woods like a glassy jewel waiting to be discovered. This place was different in almost every way from their home. Still, with her sister by her side, Jaya didn’t feel so alone.

CHAPTER 5

Grey

Any young gentry walking by the West Wing at St. Rosetta’s International Academy would have witnessed a curious sight: a large silhouette in the window of the West Wing tower, padlocked against intrusion since nearly the inception of the school.

Grey paced the diameter of the tower’s interior, a single lantern on the floor illuminating just enough so he wasn’t completely blind in the dark. He’d been coming here since middle school, when he’d learned how to pick the ancient lock. The administration at St. Rosetta’s was oddly sentimental about old stuff and held on dearly to the way things had always been done. The lack of electronic locks on this door was one example. It had worked out well for him, obviously—not once had he ever been questioned about the tower. It always amazed Grey, how easy it was to break arbitrary rules and how human beings paid so little attention to one another.

It was nearly two a.m., but he couldn’t sleep. He just couldn’t stop thinking of Jaya Rao. Why was she here? He was gripped by a certainty that it had something to do with him, but he couldn’t put his finger on why. Was it just the fact that her family had cursed his—actually, likely him, specifically?

And that pendant?