Chapter 1

My hands begin to sweat, my heart races and little by little I feel fear begin to take over my body.

I will never be able to understand how I get involved in these types of situations, at this rate I will end up dead one of these days, although perhaps that day is today.

—Come on, jump! He's not that tall, coward —I hear Michelle scream.

—Jump at once!v Jess supports her.—You've been there for five minutes. How hard is it to jump off the roof?

—You girls are crazy!—I look at them from above and feel a knot in my stomach with fear—.I don't even know how I let them convince me!

In case this is my last day: My name is Blake Shepard Town, I am 17 years old and my life will end due to a concussion.

With slow and deliberate steps, I move a little closer to the shore to see the height at which I am. I hardly see how far it is, I feel like it is constantly increasing, as shown in the movies.

I look at the causes of this damn situation. Michelle grins from ear to ear as she raises both thumbs in approval while Jess just looks on with a frown.

Michelle and Jessenia have been my best friends since the age of fourteen, although they are crazy and always involve me in dangerous situations that lead me to dance with death, I adore them.

I certainly don't understand how we got to be so close, that is: each of us is very different in every way. We are like the human version of us that we bare bears and that had been verified by various food establishments, because when we start a little debate and some start to lose, they throw food as if their life depends on it, we are definitely crazy.

Our friendship is peculiar, we are so opposite that that's why we fit in perfectly. Michelle is more of the rude type, very sincere and her tongue has no filter, it is usually the cause of our madness. Then there's Jess: simple, sometimes shy, a bit quiet, but they say quiet is the worst, and they're right. If you ever make her angry you better run and hide because you never know how she will react, although on the other hand she is also adorable, the kind of girl that grandmothers lived by pressing her cheeks. And finally there I am, I really don't know how to describe myself, but if I have to do it in one word, it would be: temperamental. I am that type of person who gets angry quickly and most of the time reacts to blows. What? Do not judge me! That's the collateral damage of growing up with two older siblings.

I take a deep breath and panic again.

—I don't want to die a virgin! I haven't kissed anyone yet! —Although the latter may seem cliché, it is true."

Liam Shephard was in charge of scaring all the guys who came up to me. Not even the fact of leaving home prevented him from fulfilling his mission, he always found a way to make my love life non-existent.

Anyway, let's get back to the important thing ...

I can't believe I agreed to jump! What was I thinking? Of course I wasn't thinking! It is about two meters tall! At least today I break my head, or maybe just one leg.

—We had no other choice, Grasshopper, the little panda won the game of UNO and he chose it as punishment.So put on your symbolic balls and jump at once, don't be a crybaby! I jumped and here you see me alive and well.— Michelle turns around to check her point.

—You hurt your knee!— I point to the small wound that has stopped bleeding.

—Either you jump or I'll come up and help you jump!—Annoyed yell. She's no doubt frustrated already, but not all of us think we're Spiderman or Batman!

—Okay, I'll jump!.

I start to walk backward so I can get a little momentum. I look up to the sky, hope that God hears my pleas and maybe grant me a super power to come out unscathed. I take a deep breath and start running, and when I'm inches from jumping, someone yells, managing to distract me.

—Stop, Blake!—I recognize Cody's voice.

I try to brake but it is too late, his scream has scared me and I lost my balance causing him to fall. In a vain attempt to rescue me like they do in Disney books and movies, Cody takes the position of the princes when they go to catch their princess, but this is real life so things happen differently.

the good? His body cushioned my fall, the bad? I left it as a rug.

—But what the hell is wrong with you? —he asks me whispering.

I feel like my whole body hurts, I don't even want to imagine how it hurts.

I stand up immediately ignoring the twinge in my head accompanied by a pain in my rib. I offer him my hand to help him and he does not hesitate to take it.

—Oh! That's what happens to you for believing you're Superman when you don't even get to kick ass. What are you doing here, idiot? —Michelle asks in a disgusted tone.

The dislike of my friends towards the boy who tries something with me is not a secret to anyone.

—Shut up!.I did not come for you, believe me that if you were the one who was going to jump, I would put on a cheerleader costume and encourage you to do it —And here we go again, thus an endless discussion begins between us.

I hate this.

For once I would like them to get along, just for a moment I would like to be a normal teenager without situations in which I play with death, and for my friends to get along with the boy that ... I like?

Frustrated by the situation, he looked to the sky for help, but apparently God is on vacation.

—I would like to see that!. Maybe I'll do it to see how your skirt fits. But what am I saying ?! You must know how it suits you, they told me that at night you dress as a woman and stand in the corners looking for attention —Certainly, sometimes Michelle's jokes are bad, but they always offend people and Cody's face of disgust confirms that—.So tell me, cockroach: How does your skirt fit?.

Jess doesn't say anything, just watch how they argue, like me. I have to admit that sometimes it amuses me but I always end up intervening so that they don't say things that go beyond the limit.

—Shut up!. I don't wear a skirt and for the last time Michelle, my name is Cody no Cockroach! He screams in exasperation.

—I don't care, cockroach— she replies with a wide smile.

Well this was getting me tired. I see that Cody is about to continue the discussion and I decide to end it. —Stop it, Cockroach, I say Cody!They're both too old to be fighting over candy by now— I bring my hand to the bridge of my nose trying to calm myself.

—Do you have any candy ?! — I look at her and Michelle raises her hands in peace.— I still can't believe you've agreed to come out of her with a hollow head like him!— His voice reflects pure disgust caused by the blond's presence.

—Do you have any candy ?! — I look at her and Michelle raises her hands in peace.— I still can't believe you've agreed to come out of her with a hollow head like him!— His voice reflects pure disgust caused by the blond's presence.

—In that I agree with you. — Jess finally speaks.

Michelle, smiling at the brunette's recent confession, raises her hand and doesn't hesitate to hit her. —Enough girls please! — I beg.

I don't understand how they can judge it without even knowing it.

They both roll their eyes.

—We better get going.—They both fall in unison, as if in sync.

Michelle walks over to me, places her hand on my shoulder, and draws me to her.

—You were supposed to jump not smash a Cockroach, but don't worry, you'll try again another day—she whispers in my ear.

He gives me a wicked smile, and of course he can never miss the classic look of pure hatred at Cody. The truth is that these three cannot be in the same place for a minute without fighting.

—Cody — The aforementioned stops looking at the place where my friends have just left and directs his gaze to me — Could you please get along with them?

The truth is that this whole situation has me fed up, we just started dating and he already has problems with my friends.

—Blake, I swear I try. But they are impossible!—he pulled his hair out in exasperation.

—Please, just give it a try, okay?— I make a puppyish face—.Do it for me.

Seeing my expression, he clicks his tongue and nods. For this reason I agreed to go out with him, he is understanding and someone I can trust.

His cell phone starts ringing, he looks at the screen and smiles.

—I have to go, beautiful. Know? was passing through your neighborhood and the first thing I see is you about to commit suicide, you should stop doing so many crazy things.

He laughed at her comment.

—I don't promise you anything.

Of course I'm not going to promise you that my crazy things will end, because if I do I would be lying to you. With the friends I have there will always be risky situations and crazy things included.

—It's fine. Take care and I hope I don't have to cushion your fall again —he places a kiss on my forehead and leaves.

I go into the kitchen and the first thing I do is open the refrigerator in search of food to calm the hungry beast that is roaring in my stomach, but there is nothing. There are only a couple of boxes of juices and vegetables left.

My brow furrows, Mom is supposed to have just done shopping, so why isn't there food? A noise coming from the second floor catches my attention and then I realize what has just happened: Liam arrived at dawn and surely he was the one who finished them all.

Damn bottomless barrel!

I miss the time when food was plentiful and Liam was away, and it's only been a few hours since he arrived.

I close the refrigerator door reluctantly and cross my arms annoyed.

I feel a ball of hair move across my feet, tickling. I look down and see Oliver trying to get my attention. I bend down, take it in my hands and hold it up.

—Who is the most beautiful cat?— I ask, to which the animal responds with a loud meow.

That just means he's hungry.

I look at the time on the kitchen clock: 6:01 pm. There is still too much time for my mother to arrive, although I am starving.

—Liam!— I scream with all my might so he can hear me.

After a few seconds I hear his footsteps and I see him coming down the stairs. His hair is wet and disheveled, and he only wears shorts.

—What's up, pumpkin?—He walks towards me.

Liam is four years older than me, the second son of the Shepards. He's the typical guy all women drool over: athlete, handsome, and perfect abs. He doesn't need to be blonde or light-eyed, he's perfect (the other women's words, not mine).

—It happens that we are hungry and there is nothing to eat.—I hold Oliver against my chest and make my face more tender.

—We have?— He asks confused.

—Ash !. I mean Oliver and me, idio ... I say: dear little brother.

—Oh yeah. What do you want me to do?— He takes out the phone and starts checking it.

—I know you love me and you don't want your little sister to die of malnutrition, so I thought you could go buy something for dinner.— I pronounce each word as if it were a girl.

—Malnutrition? But you are very fat!— I roll my eyes at his mocking tone.— Be thankful you're in luck and I'm hungry too. I propose this: I pay and you go to buy. What do you say?

—I agree.

Liam gives me some money and goes back to his room.

I put Oliver down, and put food on his plate. I grab the keys to my motorcycle and leave my house in search of the nearest pizza place.

It only took me fifteen minutes to get there. I park the motorcycle at the entrance of the premises and get off. As soon as I take a step, my cell phone starts vibrating in my pants pocket. I take out the object and look at the screen.

An unregistered number is calling me, I don't even hesitate before hanging up. I don't need to have the contact saved to know who it is. I put my phone in its place and walk towards the entrance of the pizza place, but I stop when I see an employee putting up the closed sign.

—But what ?! —Annoyed yell."

—Sorry, private party. —It's the only thing he says before he leaves and it leaves me looking stupid.

Great!. Now I have to go to another pizzeria.

My phone vibrates again and I pull it out reluctantly. Seeing that it is about my mother, I decide to answer. The moment I put the phone to my ear, I feel someone crash into me, knocking me to the ground and my body aches again like the same shit.