Pushing the
Limits
Author:
Katie McGarry
Synopsis: No one knows what happened the night Echo
Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider
with "freaky" scars on her arms. Even Echo can't remember the whole
truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go
back to normal. But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the
black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and
surprising understanding, Echo's world shifts in ways she could never have
imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both
keep, being together is pretty much impossible.
Yet the crazy attraction
between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they
can push the limits and what she'll risk for the one guy who might teach her
how to love again.
Sneak Peek
“My father is a control freak, I hate my
stepmother, my brother is dead and my mother has… well… issues. How do you
think I’m doing?”
That’s how I would have loved
to respond to Mrs. Collins’s question, but my father placed too much importance
on appearance for me to answer honestly. Instead, I blinked three times and
said, “Fine.”
Mrs. Collins, Eastwick
High’s new clinical social worker, acted as if I hadn’t spoken. She shoved a
stack of files to the side of her already cluttered desk and flipped through
various papers. My new therapist hummed when she found my three-inch-thick file
and rewarded herself with a sip of coffee, leaving bright red lipstick on the
curve of the mug. The stench of cheap coffee and freshly sharpened pencils hung
in the air.
My father checked his watch
from the chair to my right and, on my left, the Wicked Witch of the West
shifted impatiently. I was missing first period calculus, my father was missing
some very important meeting, and my stepmother from Oz? I’m sure she was
missing her brain.
“Don’t you just love January?”
Mrs. Collins asked as she opened my file. “New year, new month, new slate to
start over on.” Not even waiting for a reply, she continued, “Do you like the
curtains? I made them myself.”
In one synchronized movement,
my father, my stepmother and I turned our attention to the pink polka-dotted
curtains hanging on the windows overlooking the student parking lot. The
curtains were too Little House on the Prairie with the color scheme of a bad
rave for my taste. Not a single one of us answered and our silence created a
heavy awkwardness.
My father’s BlackBerry
vibrated. With exaggerated effort, he pulled it out of his pocket and scrolled
down the screen. Ashley drummed her fingers over her bloated belly and I read
the various hand painted plaques hanging on the wall so I could focus on
anything that wasn’t her.
Failure
is your only enemy. The only way up is to never look down. We succeed because
we believe. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck
wood?
Okay— so that last one didn’t
make the wall of sayings, but I would have found it amusing.
Mrs. Collins reminded me of an
overgrown Labrador retriever with her blond hair and much too friendly
attitude. “Echo’s ACT and SAT scores are fabulous. You should be very proud of
your daughter.” She gave me a sincere smile, exposing all of her teeth.
Start the timer. My therapy
session had officially begun. Close to two years ago, after the incident, Child
Protective Services had “strongly encouraged” therapy and Dad quickly learned
that it was better to say yes to anything “strongly encouraged.” I used to go
to therapy like normal people, at an office separate from school. Thanks to an
influx in funding from the state of Kentucky and an overenthusiastic social
worker, I’d become part of this pilot program. Mrs. Collins’s sole job was to
deal with a few kids from my high school. Lucky me. (pgs. 1-9).
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