Unsettled (Chosen #1) by Alisa Mullen

I’m not sorry for it but I shouldn’t have yelled. You just don’t hear anything these days. You aren’t…well, you.”
    I pointed my finger at the door while holding my towel up around my chest and pressing my lips together. As Conner walked by, he dipped his dark red curly head and kissed me noisily on my cheek. When he left, I smiled. Conner was also very good at flipping the good brother switch on me. At times, those lectures made me cry more but today, I didn’t have any more tears.
    No matter how mad my brother got, he knew what it was like to have no direction in life. In the years before I moved out, I watched him drink himself into oblivion over and over. It wasn’t until he got together with Darcy that he tamed his ways. I wondered if Darcy was his drink of choice now. If they broke up, would he go back to his ways? I threw in “Under the bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers, turned it up to the highest volume level, and grabbed my guitar. I stared blankly out my window, and strummed my guitar to the song. The CD ended abruptly and I looked up to find Conner in the doorway.
    “Are you even going to get dressed?” he asked , surprised as he pulled his finger from the pause button on the player.
    “Yes, Conner , what the fuck is it now? Do you want a play by play on a day in the life of Lizzie O’Malley?” I asked.
    “No, bitchy, there ’s a guy on the phone. Teagan?” He smirked with the phone pushed to his chest. “Do you want me to take a message?” I looked down at my guitar and strummed. Why is he calling me? Jesus, I’m so confused. He was starting to act a little creepy. I just talked to him, and while I was excited that he was obviously interested in me, I couldn’t let myself be consumed by him. I paused and looked up to Conner for an answer. What would he think of this weird summer fling? I almost asked him but furrowed my brow and looked down.
    “Ye s. Tell him I’ll call in a bit. Please get his number. I forgot it,” I said. I couldn’t remember the number. I guess maybe I didn’t want to remember the number. I squinted at the ceiling, 617-555-1751? 1571? 7151? Fuck it.
    I overheard Conner telling Teagan I was busy then it was quiet for a minute. I heard him laugh then he slid a piece of paper under my closed door. “He seems like a nice guy!” he yelled through the door. “I’m off to class. Leave the parents a note…better yet why don’t you fucking call them?”
    I rolled my eyes and headed to my closet to get dressed for the day.

Eleven
    Little Shifts
    Two hours later, the phone rang. I answered it.“Hello?”
    “Lizzie, it ’s Teagan. Aren’t you coming into the city tonight?” he asked.
    “Um. I don’t know. I have some things I need to get done,” I said. I spent the past few hours thinking about this summer fling and strumming my guitar. It was uncharted territory and I was the master of uncharted territory. If I did everything he wanted, I would end up wasting my summer, never trying to reclaim my life back. I was confused about what Teagan really wanted and what I wanted. I came home to make something more of myself. Conner was right about getting my shit together, although I would never tell him that.
    I didn’t know what I was doing anymore. I wanted to be more than a party girl. I wanted to get on with my goals in life, although at that moment, I had no idea what those were. I sighed into the phone, feeling so confused and yet so defeated. I couldn’t fail but something in me nagged that I already was failing. I wanted to feel excellent. I was sick of living inside my mind all the time. The strong desire to shove my head under the pillow and drown out the noise of the world no longer felt appealing to me.
    “Don’t be a poor sport. The guys and I are waiting for you right now. The Littlest Bar. Come now,” he stated and then hung up.
    An hour later, I drove into town and parked at Teagan’s apartment, thankful for an open space. I scurried to