Something Beautiful
ALSO BY JAMIE MCGUIRE
THE PROVIDENCE SERIES
Providence
Requiem
Eden
Sins of the Innocent: A Novella
THE BEAUTIFUL SERIES
Beautiful Disaster
Walking Disaster
A Beautiful Wedding: A Novella
THE MADDOX BROTHERS BOOKS
Beautiful Oblivion
Beautiful Redemption
Beautiful Sacrifice
Apolonia
Red Hill
Among Monsters: A Novella
Happenstance: A Novella Series (Books 1-3)
Copyright © 2015 by Jamie McGuire
All rights reserved.
Cover Designer: Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations, www.okaycreations.com
Editor and Interior Designer: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Visit my website at www.jamiemcguire.com
To my sweet friend,
Megan Davis.
Thank you for you.
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Shepley
“Quit being a pussy,” Travis said, punching me in the arm.
I frowned and peered around us to see who had heard. Most of my fellow freshmen were within earshot, passing us to head into the cafeteria of Eastern State University for orientation. I recognized several faces from Eakins High, but there were even more I didn’t recognize, like the two girls walking in together—one with a cardigan and a light-brown braid, the other with golden beach waves and short shorts. She glanced in my direction for half a second and then continued on, as if I were an inanimate object.
Travis held up his hands, a thick black leather cuff on his left wrist. I wanted to snatch it off and slap him with it.
“Sorry, Shepley Maddox!” he yelled my name as he looked around, sounding more like a robot or a really bad actor. Leaning in, he whispered, “I forgot I’m not supposed to call you that anymore—or at least, not on campus.”
“Or anywhere, douche. Why’d you even come if you’re going to be a dick?” I asked.
With his knuckles, Travis tapped the underside of the brim of my ball cap, almost knocking it off before I grabbed it. “I remember freshman orientation. I can’t believe it’s been a year. That’s fucking weird.” Pulling a lighter from his pocket, he lit a cigarette and blew out a puff of gray smoke.
A couple of girls hovering nearby swooned, and I tried not to vomit in my mouth.
“You’re fucking weird. Thanks for showing me where to go. Now, get outta here.”