Shattered Dimensions Read online

  Contents

  Also by Nicole Coverdale

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  About the Author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  * * *

  Shattered Dimensions

  * * *

  Copyright © 2019 by Nicole Coverdale

  * * *

  Editing provided by Jade Hemming

  Cover art Copyright © Captivating Covers and Plots

  Interior formatting by We Got You Covered Book Design

  * * *

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork here in is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

  * * *

  Printed in the United States of America

  * * *

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-5136-5270-2

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-5136-5271-9

  * * *

  www.nicolercoverdale12.com

  Dedicated to all the readers out there.

  None of this would be possible without you.

  * * *

  Thank you!

  ten months later

  “Girls!”

  “Jami! Come on, we have to go!” Jessi Kensington shouted, as she poked her head into the bathroom, sending her sister a glare, as she grabbed her cell phone off the counter. “We’re going to be late for our first day!”

  “Just a minute,” Jami said, making the finishing touches to her makeup, and pulling the tube of lipstick from the drawer underneath the marbled sink. She leaned forward, applying the dark, red color to her lips and pursed them together. “There! Perfect.”

  “Perfect?” Jessi scrunched her nose up in disgust. “I don’t understand why you even use that stuff. Can’t you just like yourself for who you are?”

  “What’s the point of being a girl, if I can’t enjoy the perks?” Jami asked, slamming the drawer shut and picking her backpack up off the floor. “After all, I can’t be popular if I don’t look gorgeous!” She spun in a circle, glancing over her shoulder at the yellow blouse flowing down her body, and the tight jeans hugging her hips. “We can’t all be a nerd like you.” She glanced in the mirror at Jessi’s reflection, and glowered at the Nickelback t-shirt she was wearing. “Are you seriously going to wear that?”

  “I like it, and I like the band,” Jessi said, ignoring the jab. “Plus, I don’t care about being popular. Not all of us dream of being popular in high school, Jami. Some of us just want to survive.” She grabbed Jami by the arm, dragging her out of the bathroom. “Now, come on! We’ve gotta get Josi!”

  “Where is she?”

  “Sleeping I think.”

  “Seriously?” Jami rolled her eyes. “How am I even related to you two? One of you is dorky as hell, with no fashion sense, and the other one is freaking lazy!” She raised her hand, rapping her fist on the door. “Josi!”

  “Jami! Be quiet!” Jessi whispered, grabbing Jami’s arm, glancing nervously over her shoulder. “We can’t let Silvia hear us. If she knows that Josi’s still sleeping… she’ll take it out on everyone!”

  “Oh please. That old hag doesn’t scare me,” Jami said, rapping her knuckles against the door again. She inwardly cringed as she thought of the last time one of the girls in the house had overslept, and how they’d all been stuck in that big hole in the ground, behind the house for three days. No food, no water, not even a blanket to sleep on. It had been inhumane!

  She shook the thoughts away, knocking on the door again. “Josi, come on! Open the door, or I swear I’ll come in there and drag you out of bed myself!”

  Silence sounded on the other side of the door, and she glanced over at Jessi. “Well, I did warn her,” she said, before shoving the door open. Her eyes widening as the door swung open, staring at her sister, sitting on the windowsill, kissing a dark-haired boy. “Josi!”

  “What?” Josi snapped, swinging her head around. Her blue eyes narrowed, and she jumped when she saw her two sisters standing in the doorway. “Jessi! Jami! What are you doing in here? Don’t you know how to knock?”

  “We did knock,” Jami said, pointing to the door behind them. “Twice, actually, but apparently you were too busy sucking face to hear us.”

  “Oh. Right.” Josi blushed, her face turning almost the shade of her red hair. “Sorry. I guess I got lost in the moment.” She grinned, glancing over her shoulder at the boy. “Thanks for the night out, Mark. It was a real blast!” She leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. “But you have to go.”

  “Go how?”

  Josi nodded to the tree next to the window. “The same way you came up.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh, she’s serious,” Jami said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “In fact, if the old hag who runs this place sees you, she’ll eat you for dinner.”

  “Which is why you need to go!” Josi cried, giving him a light push. “And I’ll see you later.”

  “At school?”

  “Where else?” Josi asked, batting her eye lashes at him. “I think we might be able to sneak away and make out behind the bleachers, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely!” Mark said, grinning, the dimple in his cheek flashing as he disappeared from the window. “See you later!”

  “I think you just made his day,” Jessi said, laughing, and quickly sobering. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Josi! Is that seriously how you spent your night? Partying and making out with some boy?”

  “So what if I did?” Josi asked, shutting the window and crossing to the closet. She opened it, staring at the clothes lying on the hangers. “What is it to you?”

  “Because if Silvia found out, she’d have your head! You know what she’s like when the rules are broken. How did you sneak out of here, anyways? This place is locked up like Fort Knox!”

  “I have my ways,” Josi said, grinning mischievously. “But last night was so much fun you guys! And Mark. He really, is quite handsome, don’t you think?”

  “I can’t disagree with you there,” Jami said, sighing. Man, she really needed a guy in her life. “Maybe I should go to one of these parties with you.” She glanced at the clock on the wall, her eyes widening. “Oh my God! Josi, look at the time! We have to get going! I don’t want to be late for my first day!”

  “Oh yes. God forbid we be late for our first day
of school,” Josi said, rolling her eyes, wishing she didn’t have to go. She hated school. She hated the classes, but most of all, she hated being surrounded by people. She didn’t make friends easily, and she had a feeling high school was going to be terrible. What was the point anyways? It’s not like I’m looking to go to college anyways.

  “You can be late all you want,” Jami said, cutting into her thoughts as she glanced into the mirror attached to the beat up, wood dresser in Josi’s room, brushing a strand of her dark, auburn hair away from her face. “I just don’t want to be late. You know first impressions are everything.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” Josi said, rolling her eyes at Jami again, and quickly changing into a new pair of jeans. She pulled the black blouse over her head, and pulled her red jacket off the hanger in the closet. She shrugged into it, glancing over her shoulder at Jami. “It’s not like you’re popular.”

  “I’m not popular… yet,” Jami said, glancing over her shoulder at Josi. “But I’m going to change that.”

  “Are we seriously going to go through this again?” Josi asked, sighing. “Jami, you are obsessed! Why is it so important for you to be popular? You do know that not everyone has to like you, right?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Jessi asked, laughing. “Have you met her, Josi? Jami loves to be the center of attention!”

  “Girls!”

  “There’s the tyrant again,” Josi said, sighing. “Come on, let’s go.”

  They hefted their backpacks over their shoulders and raced down the hall. They trotted down the stairs, and Jami paused, turning to stare at the bare walls surrounding her. This is so depressing, she thought, grazing her fingers along the wall. There should be pictures here! And why did we have to end up here? In a home, run by a woman, who hates us? Why can’t I have a family? With a Mom, a Dad, aunts, uncles, and my sisters? It’s not fair!

  “Jami! Come on!”

  Josi shouted from downstairs, and she sighed, gripping the banister. “Life’s not fair, Jami. Remember?”

  She blew out another breath, and turned, trotting down the stairs. Suddenly feeling as if she were forgetting something. There was something she was forgetting. What was it?

  “Jami!”

  “I’m coming!”

  “Jeesh, what took you so long?” Jessi asked, glancing over her shoulder at Jami. “I thought you didn’t want to be late.”

  “I don’t, but I feel like I’m forgetting something, and this house… it just feels wrong.”

  “I think you’ve been drinking the crazy juice again,” Brittany said, giggling as she raced into the kitchen. Her blonde pigtails bouncing as she skipped past them. “You’re talking crazy!”

  “Nah, she’s just nervous for her first day,” April said, grabbing her lunch bag off the counter. “Don’t worry, you’ll be just fine.” She winked at them, her green eyes sparkling with kindness, as she pulled her black hair back into a ponytail. “Everyone’s nice at the school.”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Josi said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “You’re a senior! Everyone knows you! I hate the first day in a new school. You don’t know the school, so you’re constantly getting lost, and everyone just stares at you like you’re some sort of alien! Not to mention the cliques. It’s going to be horrible!”

  “You know, you wouldn’t have such a hard time fitting in, if you were a little nicer to people,” Stacey said, as they hurried out the door. “You’re kind of prickly, Josi.”

  “I’m not prickly!” Josi cried. “I’m just…”

  “Stuck up?” Jami offered.

  “Not stuck up. Just stuck in her own ways,” Jessi said.

  Josi opened her mouth, about to protest, then she shut it as she grinned. “Well, I guess that is true.”

  “You know, there are a lot of fun groups to join at the school,” Tori put in, as she jogged up behind them. “Cheerleading is super fun, and I bet you would look great in a cheerleading uniform,” she said, winking at Jami.

  “You think?” Jami asked, as she walked with the dark-haired girl toward the bus stop. “I was thinking about trying out, but…”

  “Oh you totally should!” Tori cried in excitement. “With those long legs of yours, you would be great! Plus, it’s a good chance to get to know people, and of course, increase your chances of being popular.”

  “Hmm. I like the sound of it already.”

  “Of course you do,” Jessi said, hurrying after them. “Have some respect for yourself, Jami, would you? You do not have to be a cheerleader to be popular!”

  “And what should I do? Join the marching band?”

  “Hey! The marching band isn’t all that bad!” Megan, the youngest of them cried, hurrying after the group. “I’m in the marching band!”

  “It’s social suicide,” Jami muttered. “It’s where the nerds go.”

  “Jami.” Josi glanced over her shoulder at Jami. “Be nice.”

  “What? I’m only speaking the truth!”

  “And if you want to be taken seriously at this school, you should try being nice to everyone,” Josi said. “Even the ones who are different from you, because if you want to be class president, prom queen, whatever it is you want to be. You need votes from everyone.”

  “Yeah! Be nice, Jami!” Jessi cried, sticking her tongue out at her sister.

  “And you be nice too,” Josi said, as the bus rolled up to the curb, and they hurried up the steps to take their seats at the back of the bus. “If Jami wants to join the cheerleading squad, be supportive.”

  “But…”

  “No buts,” Josi said, putting her arms around her sisters and pulling them close. “We’re a family, remember? And we only have each other. Which means supporting each other, no matter what.”

  “Whoa!”

  Jami stepped off the bus thirty minutes later, glancing at the girls standing next to her, and stared ahead of her at the large, rectangular building in front of her. “It looks so big!” she cried, taking a step forward and glancing around at the teenagers scattered across the lawn. “I like it already!”

  “You haven’t even seen half of it!” Stacey cried, looping her arm through Jami’s. “Come on! I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  “I would love that!” Jami cried, glancing over her shoulder at Jessi and Josi. “What about you guys? You wanna come along?”

  “I’ve got my own tour guide,” Josi said, pointing to Mark, who was waving at her from where he was standing near the steps leading to the south entrance of the school. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  “At lunch?” Jessi asked.

  “Are you really going to do this again, Jessi?” Jami asked in exasperation. “Jessi! You do this every time we go to a new school!”

  “So? I don’t want to be alone!” Jessi cried. “It’s depressing. I hate being alone.”

  “We’re all alone in this crazy world we live in,” Josi said as she passed Jessi, squeezing her shoulder. “But you have to learn to stand on your own two feet at some point.”

  “Oh, she knows how to hold her own,” Jami said, grinning. “Isn’t that right, Jessi?”

  Jessi blushed. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that!” Knowing all too well about her wild side, and how her sisters never seemed to let her forget about it. Let them spend a few months in juvie, and we’ll see how they feel!

  “We’re foster kids, Jessi. We all have our little quirks,” Josi said, cutting into her thoughts. “I’ll see you later, and please, try not to start any fights on your first day.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Jessi said, as Josi disappeared through the crowd, glancing over her shoulder at the empty spot Jami had been standing in just moments ago. “Well. I guess it’s just me. So what do I do now?”

  “Jami! Come on!” Stacey cried, pulling Jami forward as she glanced over her shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of her two sisters. “They’ll be fine, I promise.”

  “I don’t know. You don’t know my sisters ve
ry well,” Jami said, sighing, and letting Stacey drag her up the steps. She pushed through the large, brown doors, and stopped. Her eyes widening as she stared down the hallway. The rhythmic sound of her feet tapping on the light, gray linoleum tile filled her ears and she glanced down, staring at the words, Falcon Heights Senior High School, written on the floor underneath her feet. So this is high school, huh? Cool! I think I’m going to fit in just fine here.

  A loud clang sounded next to her, as lockers slammed shut in the hallway. Kids brushed past her, and she raised her head. Staring around at the dark, blue lockers lining the hall.

  “Welcome to high school. You’re in the big leagues now,” Stacey said, looping her arm through Jami’s, as they pushed through the crowd.

  “And loving every moment of it,” Jami said, as she stepped forward. She turned, and bumped into a short, brown-haired boy with acne covering his face. He startled, tripping over his own two feet, and falling on his butt. His books scattering across the floor.

  “Oh my goodness! I am so sorry!” Jami cried, crouching down and reaching for his books.

  “Jami, what are you doing?” Stacey asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.