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Kate Triumph by Shari Arnold
Publication date: October 16th 2014
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Normal is so overrated. At least that’s what seventeen-year-old Kate Triumph tells herself everyday. But the truth is she lives in constant fear that someone will discover how not normal she really is. With her startling speed and her unusual ability to heal, Kate believes she’s something of a freak.
Then Andrew Shore arrives.
He claims he’s her father, sticks around for a few days and leaves her a plane ticket. “Come to Mercer Island,” he says. “Give me a chance to get to know you.” Soon Kate is floundering in a world of new: new address, new car, new high school and, of course, new father. Not to mention Zack, her intriguing new neighbor, who makes her want to abandon her steadfast rule of never allowing anyone to get too close. But when she discovers someone is trying to kill her, life for Kate gets a bit more complicated. And a lot less normal.
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EXCERPT:
“I was thinking we could chat for a minute before
Andrew gets home,” Zack says.
“I’d really love a shower,” I say.
“Well, I think it’s a
little soon in our relationship for that, but, okay,” he drawls.
I whip around and find
him leaning in the kitchen doorway. His arms are crossed in front of him and
he’s laughing at me. At least his eyes are. The rest of him appears relaxed and
too damn sexy. “It’s just a chat, Kate. I’m not asking for anything more than
that.”
But I don’t believe
him.
“Alright,” I say, and
when he doesn’t immediately respond it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow. “What did
you want to chat about, exactly?”
“You.” Zack smiles
when he notices my frown. “What? I thought all girls loved to talk about
themselves.”
I shrug. “I’m not
exactly up on what other girls do.”
“Yeah, I kinda guessed
that about you.” He moves into the room and sits on the arm of the big black
couch. “I’m not sure if Andrew has told you or not but Brandon and I lost our
parents a few years ago. Brandon was fourteen and I was sixteen.”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“Yeah, well, Andrew’s
not much of a talker.”
“Neither am I,” I say.
Zack’s eyes narrow and
then he smiles.
“You’ll get along fine
then.”
When he doesn’t say
anything more, just continues to stare at me with those eyes of his, I say,
“what happened to your parents?” I didn’t want to ask but I get the feeling if
I don’t contribute to this conversation soon he’ll just continue staring at me
until I melt into a puddle right here on the stairs.
“My parents were
killed in a small plane accident down in the Caribbean.”
“I’m so sorry.” I know
it’s the proper response. I’ve heard it enough lately to know it by memory but
it feels strange coming from my lips.
“Thanks.”
“I can’t imagine
losing both parents. That really sucks.”
“Yeah. It does. You’re
lucky to have Andrew.”
“Yeah, lucky.”
“You disagree?” he
asks.
“Sorry. I just really
hate that word, lucky. It implies that life is occasionally fair, and you and I
both know that’s not the case.”
“Why, because we lost
loved ones?”
“That’s one reason.”
Zack shakes his head.
“That isn’t why I told you, Kate.”
“You mean you didn’t
want this to be one of those bonding moments when two people realize they have
something in common and suddenly a friendship is born?” I shrug my shoulders
and take another step up the stairs. “I’m sorry about your parents.”
Zack slowly gets to
his feet. I watch him take one step and then another until he’s standing right
below me.
“No, I’m sorry, Kate.”
“About what?”
Zack’s eyes are
narrowed on me now. The friendliness replaced with something else entirely.
Something I can’t place. “I didn’t realize you thought I wanted to be friends.”
His eyes drop to my mouth and hover there, until I’m so self conscious I pull
my bottom lip in and bite it nervously.
“Okay, so you don’t
want to be my friend,” I say.
“No.”
“Then you won’t mind
if I go upstairs now?”
“Actually I do.” He
grips the railing on either side of me and leans so close our foreheads are
almost touching. It’s way too close for me but I refuse to be the one to back
away first. “Is this what I have to do to get you to look at me?” he asks.
“You mean invade my
space?”
Zack’s smile turns
into a smirk.
“What’s your problem?” I ask when he doesn’t
move away.
“That’s funny,” he
says, and his breath tickles my eyelashes. “I was just going to ask you the
same thing. I get that you’re sad. It sucks to lose someone. Believe me, I
know. But I don’t think that’s what this is. This, I don’t give a damn, persona
of yours. No, I think this is something else.”
“I don’t care what—” I
stop talking when his eyes drop back down to my lips.
“What, Kate? Am I too
close for you?”
“Yes.”
“Am I making you
uncomfortable? Asking too many questions?”
“Yes!”
“Would you rather I
stay on the other side of the room, maybe stop looking at you altogether?”
“Yes, I mean, I don’t
really care what you do.”
“Really? I find that
hard to believe.”
“Why?” I say far too
softly.
Zack has me trapped on
the stairs, my body bent backward to keep from touching him, but his eyes are
like bands around my wrists, holding me in place. They burrow their way into my
mind so that even when I blink all I can see are his gray-green eyes.
“What do you want,
Zack? I’m tired and wet and I’m not really enjoying this game of yours.”
“My game?” he says with a laugh. His white teeth flash at me and
then his lips cover them with a smirk. “You must have me mistaken for someone
else. I don’t play games.”
“Okay. You don’t play
games. So this,” I point my finger back and forth between the two of us, “this
is what you’d call chatting?”
Zack just smiles.
AUTHOR BIO:
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Shari Arnold grew up in California and Utah but now resides in Connecticut, with her husband and two kids, where she finds it difficult to trust a beach without waves. She writes Young Adult fiction because it's her favorite. And occasionally she takes photographs.
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