Banished: Book 1 of The Grimm Laws Read Free Page B

held it up to herself and went to the mirror. “I thought you were going to wear the yellow one because it highlights your hair.”
    Elle shrugged. “I changed my mind and decided to wear the blue one instead.”
    Josselyn’s lips formed a petulant frown. “But you hate blue.”
    “I do?”
    “Yes, you hate the way it brings out the color in your eyes.”
    “Why would I hate that?” This conversation wasn’t making any sense. Five minutes earlier, she’d looked in the mirror and thought how her blue eyes were her best feature.
    Josselyn gave her an impatient sigh and then placed the dress back on the chair. “You don’t like your blue eyes. You wish they were brown. In fact, you even once bought brown contacts to try and cover them up, but they turned your eyes that hideous purple color. Do you really not remember that?”
    “No … I …” Elle’s voice trailed off, and she looked away. Most of the time she pretended to remember more than she did because it was too humiliating to admit that she didn’t remember anything at all.
    Josselyn sat back down beside her. “Okay, let’s go over this again.” She spoke slowly and exaggerated as if she were talking to a four-year-old. “Tonight is homecoming, and you’re the eleventh grade attendant. Lynessa Miles, your archenemy since third grade, ran against you. It was a tight race, but in the end, you won. You’re blonde, popular, captain of the cheerleading squad, and you’re dating Edward Kingsley, the quarterback. Have I left anything out?”
    “No, I think you’ve about covered it. Even my feeble mind can grasp its way around that,” Elle snapped.
    “Don’t get huffy with me! It’s not my fault that you fell in the bathroom and lost your memory.”
    “Well, you don’t have to act so smug about it.” She may’ve lost her memory, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she and Josselyn didn’t get along. Since her return from the hospital, Josselyn had been downright hateful. Her stepmother, Sera, was cold, and her father left town on a business trip the day after she returned home. Yes, they were all one big happy family.
    “Look, I can appreciate that you’ve lost your memory, but I haven’t.” Josselyn trailed her fingers through her hair. “Unlike you, I haven’t been able to forget all of the horrible things you’ve done to me over the years.”
    Elle rocked back. “What’re you talking about?”
    “Oh, let’s see,” Josselyn feigned remembering even though it was obvious from her rapid-fire responses that she kept the memory of the events close. “How about the time you told Jeremy Stanford and the entire school that your chubby stepsister had a crush on him?”
    “I did that?” Elle asked cautiously.
    “Uh huh. You certainly did. But you didn’t stop there. The summer I lost thirty pounds, you told Mom it was because I was taking diet pills. I was grounded for a month over that.”
    “You lost thirty pounds?”
    Josselyn rolled her eyes. “Yes, Elle, I did. Old news.”
    Elle started twisting a lock of her hair. “Well, you look great.”
    “Gee, thanks.”
    “Were you taking diet pills?”
    She let out a laugh. “Well, duh, who do you think got them for me?”
    This was all coming at her too fast. The implication was obvious. “I got them for you,” she said flatly.
    “See, your memory is returning already.” Josselyn stood. “Anyway, Mom sent me up here to see if you want to go shopping with us.”
    Elle thought for a minute. The homecoming game didn’t start until 7 p.m. and it was only 10 in the morning. A little shopping might be nice. “How long are we going to be gone?”
    “Don’t worry, we’ll be back in plenty of time for you to get beautified, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    “Okay, let me get changed and I’ll be right down.”
    “See ya downstairs.”
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    “ G ood morning , Sera,” Elle said when she entered the dining room.
    Her stepmother didn’t bother to look