Breathe for Me by Rhonda Helms

It felt like sin, like tasting temptation, and I should let it go. But I don’t want to. Besides, Sitri will wipe it from me soon enough.
    I sigh, filled with a swell of anger at him. Why me? Why must I be trapped in this endless cycle? One mistake made in haste. Centuries of suffering. There has to be a way to end it. Because after last night, there’s no way I can leave here, leave Dominic. My course has been set, and I will follow it through to the end.
    Everything has changed. I opened myself up, and Dominic has edged his way into my heart. There’s no denying it.
    I think I’m falling for him.

chapter seven
    A S I WALK TO my locker on Wednesday morning, I notice more than a few sympathetic looks in my direction. A couple of people even awkwardly pat me on the shoulder, a gesture of comfort that isn’t lost on me.
    Awareness blossoms in my chest, unfolds into glorious realization—they aren’t rejecting me. Maybe I’m not an outsider to them anymore.
    Maybe I belong.
    Samantha makes her way through the hall toward me. Her face is etched with concern. “Are you okay?” she asks once she reaches my side. “I heard about what happened yesterday. So, how scary was that? Are you still freaking out?”
    â€œI’m fine,” I say, offering her a smile. “I’m just glad Mr. Morris made it.”
    â€œI heard you were a hero, that you got a teacher to help him out.” She pauses, pressing a hand to her chest. “I don’t know what I would have done. I probably would have just stared at him in horror. I tried to call you last night, but I think you were conked out.”
    My brain is still whirring over her first sentence. A hero? People think I’m courageous? “But I couldn’t give him CPR,” I say. “He could have died because of it.” My throat closes up, and a swell of emotion sweeps over me.
    I shouldn’t be happy—it took a near-tragedy for me to be fully welcomed in the school. It’s wrong for me to be so pleased about the consequences, given how deadly it could have turned out.
    Alexis comes over, her face soft and eyes filled with empathy. “Hey, Isabel. I heard about Mr. Morris.” Her eyes are wide, earnest, and there’s none of the reservation that usually lingers in her interaction with me. “You shouldn’t even have to come to school today. You saved his life. Everyone’s talking about it.”
    Samantha nods eagerly. “She’s right. Everyone knows you did what you could. And that you would have done more if you could have.”
    Their words are a balm on my guilty soul. A tremulous smile breaks out over my face. I can’t stop the glow, the warmth that fills my heart and pierces to my inner core. “Thanks, you guys.”
    I grab my stuff out of my locker and head to my first-period class. A new sense of resolve has taken over me. My bones become steel. My heart is solid, heavy, beating hard in my chest. My skin is strong and firm.
    There’s no way I’m giving this place up. It’s time to come up with a plan, now. I will not go back to Sitri. One way or another, I will be my own person.
    He will own me no longer.

    During lunch break, I eat quickly, then duck into the library, grabbing a random book off the shelf and pretending to read it so I can think without being disturbed. I spent most of the class periods today brainstorming a mental list of options on how to break the curse. Unfortunately, the list is scant.
    So far, I have:
    â€”Force Sitri to release me (but how? What can I use against him? )
    â€”Trick Sitri into releasing me (???)
    â€”Ask Sitri to release me
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Dominic asks as he slips into the seat in front of me.
    â€œOh, nothing.” I wish I could tell him the truth about me because he’s clever and could probably help me come up with alternate solutions. But I’m petrified he won’t believe