Try and Catch Me: A Young Adult Fiction Read online

  Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Kirchner

  All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in, or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known, hereinafter invented, without express written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Typewriter Pub, an imprint of Blvnp Incorporated

  A Nevada Corporation

  1887 Whitney Mesa DR #2002

  Henderson, NV 89014

  www.typewriterpub.com/[email protected]

  ISBN: 978-1-64434-060-8

  DISCLAIMER

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. While references might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  TRY AND CATCH ME

  SARAH KIRCHNER

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Hey Sis

  Chapter 2

  Welcome to the Team

  Chapter 3

  What Are You Doing Here?

  Chapter 4

  Ride Home

  Chapter 5

  You Guys Are Adorable

  Chapter 6

  That Was Low

  Chapter 7

  News Flash

  Chapter 8

  This Isn’t Tag

  Chapter 9

  My Head Hurts

  Chapter 10

  We’re Not Dating

  Chapter 11

  I Need a Break

  Chapter 12

  Playing a Game

  Chapter 13

  Now We Got Problems

  Chapter 14

  High School Musical

  Chapter 15

  Make Something

  Chapter 16

  I Don’t Understand

  Chapter 17

  Happy Halloween

  Chapter 18

  Someday My Prince Will Come

  Chapter 19

  Lots of Kisses

  Chapter 20

  Hell Rises

  Chapter 21

  Lucky Charm

  Chapter 22

  I Love You

  Chapter 23

  Muffling Cries

  Chapter 24

  Overreacting

  Chapter 25

  Stronger Than Ever

  Chapter 26

  No PDA

  Chapter 27

  Attacked Me in Bed

  Chapter 28

  Rot in Hell

  Chapter 29

  Twinzies

  Chapter 30

  Drive the Car

  Chapter 31

  Thanks for Nothing

  Chapter 32

  In a World of Jerks

  Chapter 33

  Being Ridiculous

  Chapter 34

  Closure

  Epilogue

  Dedicated to Mom and Dad.

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  Prologue

  Samantha sat across the cafeteria eating with all her friends. They were all huddled around her waiting for her to talk, like she was God, and they were her disciples. It made me gag. With every word Sam spoke, all of her friends fell further in love with her. Sam would giggle out a saying and then flick her blonde hair. And at that, everyone would swoon.

  Everyone except me, that is.

  I sat alone which was the usual. The three friends that I had didn’t have the same lunch schedule as me, so that meant I ate alone while I watched my sister enjoy everyone’s company. I hated her for being liked by everybody. She was the prettier twin. The more liked twin—not according to Quinn and Rebecca, of course—but to me it was so.

  If she was the head cheerleader, which she was, I was the water girl.

  I couldn’t stand Sam. Ever since middle school, she has done nothing but push her way up the social ladder using her looks and charm. With her rise in popularity, you would think that I would have climbed up with her, but nothing could have been more wrong. I was stuck at the bottom, forced to endure endless torment. At school, Sam pretended as if I didn’t exist. When we were home, sometimes we would hang out, but somewhere along the way, that stopped, and I was thrown to the wolves.

  Chapter 1

  Hey Sis

  I hated parties.

  Parties were probably my least favorite things. But Sam loved them. She threw one practically every weekend our parents went out, and this weekend was no exception.

  I could already feel the bass from upstairs in my room. The floor shook beneath my feet, making it difficult for me to apply my eyeliner.

  “It’s only nine!” Quinn shouted from behind me. “Why is the music already blasting?” She covered her head with my pillow and fell onto the bed. “How many people can actually be here already?”

  “Explain to me again. Why are we going to Sam’s party?” Becca asked from the bathroom linked to my room. She was applying her makeup there since I was taking up the full-length mirror in my room.

  “I’m tired of having to ditch my own house almost every Friday night,” I said and threw my eyeliner into my makeup bag. I had given up applying it and decided that my brown eye shadow was good enough. I stood up and examined my outfit. It wasn’t much. A black dress that hugged my skin and a flannel to cover my arms. A pair of black sneaker pumps completed my outfit. It wasn’t every day I got to dress up. Usually, I just wore soccer clothes, so this was a treat.

  “We could be watching America’s Next Top Model right now.” Quinn moaned and lifted the pillow from her face. “Did you know there’s a marathon tonight?” It was clear they hated parties just as much as I did. I guess that’s why we’re friends

  “Fine,” I said, spinning around. “If you want to watch that, go ahead. I’m going downstairs,” I hissed. They both looked at each other in alarm.

  I flicked my blonde hair over my shoulder and strutted over to the door.

  Before I could leave, the door swung open.

  “Let’s go party, bitches!” Caleb shouted in the doorway and ran over to my bed, landing on it with a soft thud. Caleb jumped around Quinn who sat in a ball in the middle, screaming. “We’re going to a party! We’re going to a party!” Caleb sang as he jumped all around. For whatever reason, he loved parties, but, unfortunately, our group never got to go to any. It was usually because Sam was there. It was already bad that I had to live in the same town as her, let alone in the same house. Caleb would always say that we should throw our own party or that we should go to more, but us nobodies never went to cool parties, so that was out of the question.

  Him being six-feet tall, I was sure he was bound to hit his head on my slanted ceiling. Each time he jumped on my bed, his blond hair bounced closer to it.

  “I swear, if you hit your head and die…,” I began. I grabbed a towel that was hanging on my door and threw it at him. He flinched a little but continued to jump, wearing his usual goofy grin. “…I am not cleaning up your blood stains!” I shouted. Caleb only winked at me.

  “That looks like fun!” Becca shouted and ran over to the bed, too. S
he crawled onto it and stood, holding Caleb’s hands and jumping with him around a now very panicked Quinn.

  “I hate you all.” I sighed and turned to leave my room for the second time.

  In my doorway, though, now stood the mega bitch. She glared at me with her emerald eyes. Her perfectly waxed eyebrows were pinched together. Her curled blonde hair was perfectly placed over her shoulder as she crossed her bony arms.

  It was Sam.

  It was my twin sister.

  Yay.

  “Hey sis.” I smiled and leaned against the wall in the doorway. Sam frowned at me. While I just strongly disliked her, she despised me. Twins were supposed to be closer than normal siblings, but it was different for us. It seemed normal for siblings to fight, but twins? I always saw twins as siblings who’d always hang out together. They shared the same group of friends, and they always got along with each other. A twin was like a permanent best friend, but for me and Samantha, it was more like the bane of our existence.

  “Ah, welcome to the real party, Samantha!” Caleb shouted from my bed. He was smiling like crazy. I wanted to laugh at his funny face, but contained it. Sam cringed upon seeing him.

  “No one invited you here, Caleb.” She sneered. There it was. Her nasty attitude. It was honestly amazing how people haven’t caught on to her act yet.

  But then, I remembered it was only when she was around me and my friends that we saw the horrific side of the mega bitch. Whenever she was with her friends, she turned into an angel automatically. No, no that wasn’t the right word. She became a goddess.

  Caleb laughed and pounced off the bed. He snuck closer to her and placed his hands on her hips. Sam tensed up right away. Caleb licked his lips and leaned toward her ear. “Oh, but didn’t you invite me?” he whispered. Caleb loved teasing Sam, and that made me love him even more.

  Sam elbowed him in the stomach. Caleb chuckled as he backed off. “In case you missed it Caleb, I have a boyfriend.” She glared at both of us, but we were too busy laughing to care.

  Caleb waved Sam away and went back over to my bed.

  “Can I help you with something?” I asked Sam.

  “It sounds like you guys are having a threesome from downstairs,” she growled. She glanced over my shoulder and noticed my other friends in the room. “Well, in this case, maybe it was a foursome.” She snickered at her clever comeback. Hilarious.

  Caleb laughed and put his arms around Quinn and Becca on the bed. “Want to join us, Sam?” he asked her, raising an eyebrow. “I’m sure we can all fit.” He winked. Quinn and Becca giggled.

  Sam scoffed with disgust after giving us an eye roll. “Just keep it down.” She gave us each one last glare before strutting down the hallway and down the stairs. If looks could kill, we would have all been dead by now.

  “Does she know we’re actually coming to the party this time?” Becca said.

  “Who cares?” I laughed and grabbed Becca’s and Quinn’s hands. “Let’s go have some fun!” I squealed, and we paraded through the door.

  “This is gonna be epic!” Caleb shouted from behind us, throwing his hands up. The girls and I laughed at his comment and descended the white stairs.

  That’s when the party hit me—the pungent smell of cheap liquor, weed, and sweat infiltrating my nose. In our living room was a guy I faintly knew. His name was Eric, and he was the DJ for the night. EDM blasted through the speakers that were placed strategically around the house so every corner boomed with the music. In the room with Eric was a swarm of kids dancing, rubbing their bodies against each other. Guys nibbled at girls’ ears, while the girls giggled and swayed back and forth.

  Quinn practically threw up right away.

  “I think I’m gonna get sick.” She covered her mouth and ran back up the stairs. My eyes locked with Becca’s. Becca just tossed her hair over her shoulder and jumped off the last step.

  “Let her be. We’re here to have fun.” She smiled and danced her way through the crowd, her red hair bobbing up and down as she moved.

  Caleb smiled as Becca began dancing in the center of the dance floor.

  “That girl’s wild.” He chuckled.

  “Oh yeah?” I said and took a look at him. His eyes were bright. “Why don’t you go dance with her?” I nudged him a couple times in the stomach and gave him some winks.

  “No, I… uh…,” Caleb stuttered and scratched his head. “That’s not who I want to dance with, Ella.” He coughed and glanced at his feet.

  “Okay, whatever.” I rolled my eyes and left Caleb on the stairs. “I’m going to get a drink.”

  “Wait! Ella!” he called and tried to come with me.

  “Go to Rebecca!” I shouted back and headed into the kitchen.

  The kitchen didn’t have many people in it. Just a couple making out near our fridge. It was gross, but that’s what happened at parties. People got drunk, and other people hooked up.

  I looked at the island and saw the drink options: beer, vodka, and Coke. Both the beer and vodka smelled revolting, so I played it safe and chose the soda. Besides, I wanted to attend my first party sober. I grabbed a can and flicked it open. Immediately, soda began pouring out, spraying its contents all over the white kitchen. Crap. I turned and tried to run to the sink before I made a mess. Well, I tried to, at least.

  Before I could get two feet from where the soda began exploding, I ran into a body. A male body. Brown soda soaked the white shirt he wore, and his shirt now stuck to him. That’s when I noticed the amazing six pack on the guy I just bumped into.

  “I’m so sorry!” I squeaked and grabbed a towel that hung on the stove. I began dabbing his stomach, making myself look like a bigger idiot than I already am. “Oh my god, your shirt is probably ruined,” I groaned and covered my head.

  “Relax, Sam. It’s totally okay.” The guy laughed and grabbed my wrists.

  I froze. My eyes slammed shut. He thought I was Sam. This guy with rocking abs thought I was my twin sister. My better and prettier twin sister.

  The guy lowered my hands and I snuck a peek at the guy. My breath caught in my throat.

  It was Aspen.

  It was freaking Aspen-totally hot-Carder.

  He was the star of the championship soccer team at our school. He played forward and scored three out of the four goals at the game. He was tall with adorable curly brown hair, which was hanging loosely around his ears right now. He looked amazing causing my heart to race. I couldn’t believe I had spilt my drink all over the star athlete.

  “Oh! Ella!” he exclaimed and quickly let go of my hands. “Sorry, I… um… I saw the blonde hair and...” he explained, gesturing at my head. “And I thought you were your sister.” His face was turning red. Was he embarrassed? He was probably scared to be seen with me. People usually wanted to be with my sister, not me.

  I shrugged and tried to hide my face. “Everyone does,” I mumbled.

  We stood there in an awkward silence. I waited for him to say something, but he just stared at me with his chocolate eyes. A small smile spread on his lips.

  “Aspen!” A girl squealed from the sliding glass door. We both jumped and looked to see who it was.

  Sam.

  “Silly, that’s not me!” She laughed and skipped over to him. Her arm snaked under his, linking arms with him.

  “Hi, Sam.” I put on the smile that I always did when she was around. “Where’s James?” I asked.

  James Smith was her boyfriend. They had been dating since last year, around Homecoming. Of course, they were declared the sophomore Homecoming king and queen. Now it was a new year, and Homecoming was in two months. There was no way she would dump James before then. It was always expected that the captain of the cheerleading squad dated the quarterback of the football team.

  “Ella, why don’t you just go back to your room? You do hate parties, don’t you?” She put on a smile as well and turned to Aspen. “Now, come on, Aspen. We’re having a soccer game out back, and I already declared you captain.”


  It was sickening how sweet and nice she tried to be with Aspen. Clearly, she had a crush on him, and if she really wanted him, she could get him. It didn’t make sense why she was with James. Both James and Aspen were amazing athletes. Aspen was better than James, but...

  Sam nodded toward the fenced-in backyard. A soccer ball was bouncing between some teenagers. They were all mostly from the guys soccer team. I didn’t see any girls playing.

  “Cool.” He nodded and began heading for the door.

  “Wait, you’re playing soccer?” I asked before Sam left the kitchen. She scrunched her eyebrows at me.

  “Oh, yeah. Ella, you play right?” Aspen asked, his head tilted in my direction. “You should totally play with us.”

  My heart skipped a beat.

  “Yeah,” I said, smirking at Sam. “I would love to play.”

  Chapter 2

  Welcome to the Team

  We were picking teams. Or rather, Aspen and Vincent Rone, another star player of the school’s soccer team, were. Vinny, as everyone liked to call him, was the team’s goalie. Every ball that came to him, he caught and punted more than halfway down the field. It was no wonder that they won state champs; they had amazing players. My stomach knotted a little when I thought about playing with them. They were great, and I was average.

  They were looking at every single person in the group, eyeing our members and the other team’s. I had kicked off my shoes and was now playing barefoot in the grassy expanse of the yard. Heels were, of course, not exactly a good choice for running around. Most of the girls’ soccer team was at the party too. We all huddled near each other, giggling. At school, we were never allowed to compete with the boys. Our coach thought that we were no match compared to the guys and it would just end with us getting hurt. This was finally our time to play with them. We couldn’t have been more ecstatic.

  “Aspen, just pick someone,” Vinny said next to him, giving him a whack in the shoulder. Aspen just smiled and continued to stare.