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*This book is Mature YA/ New Adult. It is recommended for readers 14 and over*
Synopsis: What
if everything you knew turned out to be a lie?Purchase on Amazon!
*This book is Mature YA/ New Adult. It is recommended for readers 14 and over*
Charlotte Walker knows how to live under the rule of The
Party. She has managed for 18 years. She helps out her drunken mother and keeps
life going at a familiar, steady pace. She doesn't ask questions, even though
she has many of them in her heart.
Fostino Sanchez knows how to live under the rule of The
Party, too. For 19 years, he's worked to be the perfect Party member. He knows
what must be done to keep Maxwell Cooper in power, and how to find the The
Undesirables that threaten to take away everything that matters.
As the months go by, what matters most to Fostino is
Charlotte Walker.
While their love blooms, danger comes to Charlotte and
Fostino's small hometown of Harrison Corners, OH. Threats they never knew
existed could take away all that they care about. And just when these two teens
think they know what will come next, Charlotte learns the truth about a secret
she has long suspected.
What Charlotte finds out changes everything.
EVERYTHING.
THE UNDESIRABLE is Charlotte Walker's story, from her point
of view. It is a thrilling, suspenseful tale of love, curiosity, adversity, and
maturity against the backdrop of a futuristic war.
Should Charlotte trust Fostino with what she knows? Can she
trust anyone? Will she find it in herself to rise up against terrible odds?
What if the ultimate Undesirable is her?
SNEAK PEEK
Fostino’s frown mixes with his tightened jaw. “Are you
serious about this, Charlotte? Really serious? I just — I can’t believe you’re
breaking up with me.” His eyebrows pull tighter than any seam I have ever sewn.
“God. I’m so stupid.” His mouth sets in
a hard line. My heartbeat jumps to my ears. I bite down hard on the inside of
my bottom lip.
Oh, God. Did I make the right choice? Will he understand?
Will he always hate me?
My breath quickens as the air constricts all around the two
of us. I almost taste the awkwardness in the air. I pray my pain doesn’t show
on my face.
How do people manage to stay friends after something like
this?
I can’t. No, I won’t. Not this time.
I stand in this apartment and know that I failed to make
this breakup painless. My words cover this small dusty room. All the muscles in
my back tighten and twist from the stress. We will never be just friends —
ever.
He gets up from the couch and pulls on his worn, muddy
combat boots. He seems wounded, broken, and defeated. He radiates pain. He
picks up my keys to the apartment from the coffee table. Awkward. My mind
flickers to the beginning. I remember the moment in the town square when The
Party transformed our lives. I want to go back and change everything since
then.
“I wanted to take care of you and shield you from—” He stops
and gestures to the windows and the crumbling world outside this room. His
soulful brown eyes glint with anger. “Everything.” Now he exhales. “I guess I’m
not surprised. Not after all that happened.” His shoulders slump.
Sweat beads on the back of my neck. I swallow some of my
uneasiness. My plan just might work. I taste the hollow victory in the back of
my throat.
Good.
“I—I’m sorry.” I have nothing else to say, no words to make
this better. In minutes, I’ll leave the apartment and flee my life because I
have no other choice.
“I’ll never understand you. Or this.” Fostino shakes his
head of dark waves. He fixates on the bare wall behind me.
His words hurt, but Fostino can’t know how much he affects
me. I push away the urge to reach out and hold him tighter than I ever hugged
anyone. Instead, I shudder a little in my shapeless black dress — the one the
government issued me last month. I hate this. I am not a cold person. I don’t
hurt people on purpose.
“Fostino, I—“
In a few steps, I reach his side. My shaky hand reaches out
and the keys link our hands together. I
smell him through all the dust in this studio apartment with the Murphy bed in
the corner. I inhale just remember how he smells. I’m so afraid I will forget
it. Each second ticks by worse than the last. This conversation is hard, so
very hard. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying
something I can’t back up. If only I could tell him the truth, share my
terrible secret, and find a way out of my bleak future.
If only.
“Did you ever mean anything you said? I mean, even for one second.
Did you ever even like me?” He balls his hand into a fist once I raise my arm
to stop him. He keeps talking anyway. “I told you I loved you right here in
this room, even though you didn’t say it back. I meant it.”
My stomach twists and heart pounds while I keep up the lies.
“Well — I did like you.” I emphasize my next words as my toes curl in my
sandals. “I thought I loved you once. I wanted to say it, but—”
“But, I’ll always love you. I will.”
He mutters something else I can’t understand, and his words
undo me. I give in and kiss him. His lips are a gentle push against mine, and
the kiss is so good it hurts. His lips taste like a nectar I want to savor
forever. But I can’t. This moment must stay cold and Fostino needs to know this
is goodbye for good. Before the kiss intensifies, I pull away and remember my
task. The black Humvee full of people waits around the corner. We all must
leave soon. They gave me 15 minutes to make sure this break-up is a clean one.
Time is up.
Now.
His eyes lock mine. “Why won’t you tell me what’s really
going on?”
Oh no. He can’t know the truth.
Hurt him.
They told me I must end it. Loving me will destroy him. It
will destroy everything.
My teeth bite my lip hard on the inside as I search for the
words. “It’s — well — we just…we aren’t right for each other. I don’t want you
to come after me. We need to end this. This relationship—”
“Whatever. It’s fine. You shouldn’t make stuff up.” Fostino
sounds very weary and haggard with each sentence.
I take my keys and slide them into the black wool satchel on
my left shoulder. Then I take the deception a step further. “I won’t ever love
you, Fostino Sanchez.” The words taste like rusted metal. “I just won’t.”
My hands open the door with purpose. A few steps will take
me through an ancient hallway that links this apartment with 16 others. I push
myself through the doorframe and pull the door shut behind me. Then I take the
first steps of what I know will be a lifetime of solitary strides. With each
step, I sever this connection.
Once outside, I round the corner and slide into the alleyway
as the armored vehicle hums a signal. The Humvee’s fat tires set off its flat
black paint, tinted windows, silver chrome handles, and a large armored grill
on the front and the back. This car is a fortress, made for combat and
intimidation. All the cars the government owns mirror this one. I slip inside
and sink into black leather.
Soon, we will all leave Harrison Corners, Ohio. This small
band of rebels will take me some place. And I don’t care where. I just want to
disappear, and need to more than ever. After I close the Humvee door, Thompson
speaks first.
Character
Profile
Full Name: Fostino Sanchez
Age: 19
Date of Birth: July 12, 2056
Physical Description: Tall, think, dark hair, green eyes,
Roman nose, athletic body, tan, charismatic smile
Bio: Born in Harrison Corners, OH in the summer of 2056,
Fostino Sanchez is the oldest of two children.
He is very close to his younger sister, Farrah. His parents own the main
grocery/convenience store in town. Smart but not overly intelligent, Fostino
excels at sports and running. He has several athletic awards. Fostino is something of a ladies’ man,
constantly dating girls at school. At the start of The Undesirable, Fostino is
an outstanding member of the Homeland Guard, a program of required military
training set down by the government.
Likes: oranges, running, green peppers, watching sunsets,
Charlotte Walker
Dislikes: people who don’t trust him, not fitting in
Special Abilities: running, firing guns (marksmanship)
Weapons: gun
Hobbies: goes for long runs, likes to read, often works in
his parent’s store, cooking
