Adrenaline: A Fall Away Series Bonus Content Collection by Penelope Douglas

“What are you going to do, K.C.? Kill him with the power of your stare all night?”
    I raised my eyes, glowering at her, knowing damn well what she was trying to do.
    “What would you like me to do?” I asked, evening out my voice to hide the tears lodged in my throat. “Kick him in the balls? Get in a cat fight with the girl? I’m better than that, Nik.”
    She pursed her lips and arched an eyebrow, gazing across the black dance floor like she wanted to give up on me.
    I followed her gaze and shook my head.   Yeah, right.   I wasn’t better. I was just stupid. I should’ve listened to my mother. She said I should listen to her, and when I don’t, I always regret it.
    And here I was, regretting it again as I zoned in on my boyfriend—scratch that, ex-boyfriend—who had his hand up the skirt of a girl who wasn’t me.
    Again.
    I thought all of Liam’s hearts and flowers meant something in high school. I thought that all of the times he’d said he loved me earned him chances. Turns out, I thought a lot of bullshit.
    The truth was…the first time he cheated on me during my senior year of high school, I forgave him, because I couldn’t let my mother be right. I couldn’t let her see my relationship fail and admit that I’d been wrong.
    I’d swallowed some self-respect, but I wasn’t swallowing it again. Nik, however, wanted me to go above and beyond. She wanted his dick in a meat grinder.
    She sighed, lifting the cranberry and vodka to her lips. “Yeah, I guess that’s why he’s two-timing you,” she spat out in a sharp tone, gesturing with the bright red drink in her hand. “Because you’re better, right? That’s why he’s thinking about you right now as he touches her?” She put her hand on her chest, acting dramatic. “Why he’s showing how much he cares about you by telling you that he had a late final tonight when he really just wanted to take someone else out. I’m starting to wonder how many other things have escaped your notice, K.C.”
    The plastic cup in my hand cracked under the pressure, and the tequila shot Nik had ordered me dribbled over my fingers. The burning in my nose heated up even more with my quick breaths.
    I needed that shot.   Dammit.
    Actually, I didn’t need it. I just wanted it. I’d already had another one and half a beer. While I was still only twenty, Nik was twenty-one and had been buying my drinks. That was her answer when times were tough. Load up a row of shot glasses and drink until you’re numb. Not me, though. I’d pace myself. A buzz without being bombed.
    She passed me her shot, and I let it sit on the table.
    Good friend.   The best one I’d had in a while.
    Her real name was Nikita—as in La Femme Nikita. Her mom had apparently been obsessed with the movie, the American re-make, and the television show. Nik was everything that I wasn’t, and ever since we’d met nearly two years ago, I was in a constant state of envy.
    Her long blonde hair hung in small spiral curls, she wore no make-up, and the tattoos around her wrists were ornate and dark. I wanted the blue streaks in her hair, her chipped green nail polish, and her unfashionable black t-shirt that said, ‘My Imaginary Friend Thinks You’re Weird’.
    I wanted to be Nik.
    And she kind of wanted to get in my pants.
    She’d been flirting with me since I first walked into our dorm room at the beginning of freshman year, and while I knew my mother wouldn’t approve of me living with a lesbian, I soon found out I couldn’t live without Nik. She was a breath of fresh air and a reminder that life is all around me when I often tried to block it out.
    Of course, she’d love the opportunity to get me naked, but she was really good at just being the kind of friend who gave me a kick in the ass when I needed it.
    I’d fallen out of touch with my friends from back home, and other than Nik, I didn’t have a whole hell of a lot here in Arizona that made me happy. My grades were great, but I hated the