My Junior Year of Loathing
by Jennifer
DiGiovanni
Publication
date: October 6th 2016
Published
by: Swoon Romance
Genres:
Contemporary, Young Adult
BLURB
Junior year is supposed to be
tough. Exams, term papers, homework, college tours, and participation in
extra-curricular activities can all add up to non-stop stress. But Melinda
Banner has goals to achieve and dreams to make real. This year, she’ll be unstoppable.
But even over achievers need a break.
While walking in the woods to
take a break from the stress of it all, Melinda meets a boy named Connor. After
a few more run-ins, the two settle into an uneasy friendship, if you can even
call it that.
But Connor’s closed and
mysterious. Whenever Melinda asks too many questions, he suddenly has to go or
is no longer interested in talking. When they’re together, she’s torn between
wanting him to open up and running away as fast as she can. Still she can’t
seem to shake her budding interest in him.
Connor has his own way of looking
at the world, and his views often conflict with Melinda’s practical nature. Can
you like someone and loathe them at the same time? Is he even worth the
emotional tug on her heartstrings or distraction from all things Junior year?
And, as if she needs another
project right now, Melinda starts to obsess over the abandoned estate she
passes on the way to school each day. Between Connor and the old estate,
Melinda’s beginning to think she’s taking on too much.
But Melinda’s smart. She finds a
way to indulge her interest in the estate and fulfill her obligations. She will
uncover the truth behind the aging edifice for an epic article in the school
newspaper.
But when her investigation
reveals a connection between Connor and a tragedy long-since forgotten, Melinda
has a choice: put off her junior year achievements to save a local landmark and
a boy who constantly pushes her away or put them both out of her mind for good
and focus on making the grade.
Buy Link: Amazon
My eyes land on the monstrous wall running the length of the block
ahead of us. What was once red brick has now faded to ashy gray and tan,
adorned with splotches of green lichen. To me, the Westerly Estate has always
looked completely out of place in Harmony, like someone froze time and plunked
a long-forgotten fairy tale castle in the center of mid-town Manhattan.
Becca’s renegade curls swat the side of my forehead when she turns
away from Will. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story behind the Westerly wall.”
“Something about Old Man Westerly building it because he hated his
daughter’s boyfriend?” The memory is fuzzy, but I recall my father telling me
about the local legend when I was younger.
Will laughs. “Dude must have been a fun parent.”
Becca nods. Finally, they agree on something. “Judging by the
state of the wall, the estate behind it must be a total wasteland. I wonder why
the mayor doesn’t force whoever owns it now to fix it up.”
I straighten my spine, searching for tall stone turrets, perhaps
the tower of London, or at least a mansion like Brian’s. Only the top floor of
a tired-looking manor house with faded clapboard siding and a shingled roof
pokes over the top of the brick barrier. In the distance, I spot a redwood barn
and two corroded metal silos.
“Old man Westerly built the wall a long time ago—maybe the
seventies,” Becca says. “According to the story my gran told me, he completely
despised his daughter’s boyfriend.”
“Yeah, and I bet the wall was his bright idea to separate them,”
Will cuts in.
“All that to keep out one guy?” I ask.
“He was probably her one true love.” Becca enhances the mood by
fluttering her eyelashes faster than a crazed hummingbird’s wings. “Then, right
after the wall was finished, the Westerly family moved away and sold the land.
Apparently, there was some sort of accident.”
“So the place is cursed,” Will says.
“Supposedly haunted,” Becca adds.
Will huffs. “No one believes the ghost stuff. But whoever bought
it made a bad investment. Must be a toxic-waste dump or something if you can’t
build on it.”
The light switches to green. Will punches the gas, and Becca slams
into me, her shoulder knocking mine.
“You’re out of control, Gamen,” Becca gripes. “Sorry, Mel.”
Two cars roll through the intersection before the light shines
yellow and then red. Will swears under his breath. “First-day-of-school
traffic. Everybody wants to show off their new wheels.”
“Do you really think there’s a ghost?” I turn to Becca.
“Of course there’s a ghost,” she says. “People see her all the
time.”
“Like who?” Will asks, arching an eyebrow.
She shrugs. “Just people.”
“Name one person. Have you seen her?”
“No, Will,” she answers with a sigh. “But everyone knows about
her, so the story must be true. She’s waiting for her true love to come back
and rescue her.”
Will barks out a laugh. “True love. Right. More like a sex fiend.”
“Awesome. We’re talking about ghost sex now,” Becca says.
“I wonder what the real story is,” I say. “The truth could make a
great headline for the paper. If I find out what really happened to the estate,
maybe someone would clean the place up. I’m sure it was beautiful, back in the
good old days.”
“Don’t you have enough to worry about this year?” Becca asks. “You
can’t spend time researching a story like that. You’re assistant editor of Out
of Tune. You’re on student council. You play basketball and run a whole bunch
of other clubs. Our school would not exist without you.”
“You’re exaggerating.” My face flames.
The light flips to green, and Will floors the gas. As we pull away
from the Westerly Estate, I glance at the second story of the old manor house.
A shadowy profile appears in the left window. I blink, stare hard, and blink
again. It’s gone.
Author Info
Jennifer DiGiovanni is the author of the School Dayz Series. When
she’s not writing or reading, she likes to try new sports and activities from
archery to ballroom dancing, with varying degrees of success.
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