Medeia
Sharif
YA
Paranormal/Evernight Teen/@ 47K
*Editor's
Pick*
After
a brutal rape and near-murder, Valerie wants to get past feelings of
victimhood from both the assault and her history of being bullied.
Not knowing the identity of her masked rapist and dealing with the
nasty rumors about that night are two things that plague her
daily.
Valerie
will have to follow ghostly entities, past victims of the
rapist-murderer, contacting her through a social media site. Why do
all of their eerie photos have 52 likes under them? Their messages
are leading her to the mystery man, although he’ll put up a fight
to remain hidden.
14+
due to adult situations
Buy
Links: Evernight
Teen
/ Amazon
/ Omni
Lit
/ BookStrand
Excerpt:
With
the girls closest to me, I see their Picomatic profile page, which is
a reminder that I have a direct message on there. “Did you DM me on
Picomatic?” I whisper to Cookie.
She
shakes her head, briefly looking up from her notebook. I should be
writing too, but can’t concentrate on the five questions Ms.
Garland wrote on the board. She’s seated behind her desk as a
student approaches her to ask a question. The student is blocking her
face, so she can’t see me at all. During times like these, when
teachers are busy, I whip out my phone.
I
slide my phone out of my pocket and into my lap. It used to be a
wonderful distraction that entertained me during boring lectures and
educational videos. Seeing others on Picomatic, I’m now dying to
know what the DM is about. Even if it’s an inappropriate or
harassing one, I need to see it. If it upsets me, I’ll report it as
spam. If it's extremely bad, pertaining to that night, I have to tell
someone, even though last year the school didn't do much in the way
of protecting me from the
trio, which was
the quartet
back then since Hector would play their vicious games.
I
open my Picomatic page. Selfies abound, some from a few seconds ago.
Most pictures are from P.E. or some other class where teachers don't
supervise as much. Some people are taking pictures of work that has
been graded, bragging about A's or criticizing teachers who gave them
F's. I tap the corner, where the direct messages are. If it’s a
graphic with THOT or some other message on it, I need to know that’s
not who I am. I never was. Be
brave, I urge
myself.
There’s
a DM from someone named 2beautiful. I can’t recall any friends who
use that handle. Where the profile pic should be, there’s a
close-up of an eye. The eye is lined, with heavy mascara and purple
and blue eye shadow. It’s an attractive picture, although eye pics
can be deceiving. Sometimes the rest of the person isn’t as pretty.
I don’t recognize this eye, although anyone’s eye can be
transformed like this with the right makeup.
I
scroll down to see the picture message she sent me. I frown, unsure
of what this is, who this is. It’s almost pornographic, but not
really since it’s just a sliver of skin, although there’s a hint
of the girl’s V between her legs.
The
picture is of a slender, yet curvaceous naked hip. The bone protrudes
slightly and I can tell the girl is pear-shaped. I’m also
pear-shaped, which is especially noticeable around Christmas time
when I gain five pounds from eating too much during winter break.
This
photo of a girl’s hip has 52 likes. I gasp. Is
it a photo of me?
Did someone take a picture of me at home or in the shower? Then I
think back to the rape, of the flashes of light…I thought it was
lightning, but I could be wrong. He had pulled me down to the floor
and knocked me around. The room was dark. Maybe I didn’t notice
every single thing he had done to me. Had the rapist photographed me?
Author
Bio:
I’m
a Kurdish-American author who was born in New York City, and I
presently call Miami my home. I received my master’s degree in
psychology from Florida Atlantic University. After becoming a
voracious reader in high school and a relentless writer dabbling in
many genres in college, I found my niche writing for young people.
Today I'm a MG and YA writer published through various presses. In
addition to being a writer, I'm a middle school English teacher. My
memberships include Mensa, ALAN,
and SCBWI.
Website:
http://www.medeiasharif.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sharifwrites
Instagram:
http://instagram.com/sharifwrites
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon Gift Card
Can't wait to read this one. Congratulations, Medeia on another great release.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephanie.
ReplyDelete