Excerpt for Tour of Living In The Aftermath (The Ties That Bind Us 2) By K. A. Coleman

Title: Living In The Aftermath (The Ties That Bind Us 2)

Author: K.A. Coleman

Release date: June, 2013

Genre:  Young Adult

Tour: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

Book Description:

At the start of her junior year, Savannah had it all: popularity, money, cheerleading, a boyfriend, and a best friend. Unfortunately, when you have it all, you risk losing everything. After a tragic accident forever changes her life and the lives of her friends, Savannah finds herself faced with a decision to make. She can try to slip back into her old life, flaws and all, or she can try to redefine herself for her last year of high school. Is it even possible that Savannah can change after having everything go her way for 18 years?
Jacob has nothing to lose. He has seen one too many schools and wants nothing more than to graduate, so he can finally stay in one place for more than a year. In fact, Jacob thinks he has every clique and student pegged after switching schools so frequently. When Jacob finds himself face to face with Savannah, he realizes that she doesn’t quite fit into one of the high school stereotypes.

In fact, they’re both harboring rather big secrets. Maintaining a friendship or any kind of relationship can be akin to balancing on the thinnest of tight ropes. When the rope is made of lies, revenge, and half-truths, well, it’s only a matter of time before everything and everyone comes crashing down.

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Book Excerpt

Savannah

Weekends were the absolute best.  More specifically, my weekend was the absolute best.  After Em left and the underclassmen scattered, Toby and I sat by his pool and talked for two hours.  It was just the two of us talking which was something I never had with Matty.  Admittedly, my relationship with Matty was about as deep as a kitchen sink, so I was basically shocked when Toby actually cared about what I said and laughed at my jokes.  The most amazing part?  He came over Sunday after he went to church with his parents.  When my parents met him, he acted like such a gentleman: shook my father’s hand, complimented my mother’s food, and told my parents they had a lovely house.  Most guys that I have brought home have barely gotten out nods to my parents.  It may be the best Sunday I’ve ever had, and again, we didn’t even do anything.  We just sat around and talked.  His mother told him that she watched us Friday evening, and we just looked “right” together.  He was so touched that he teared up that night.  

I was so freaking happy that it didn’t even bother me to watch Em and Matty make out in the parking lot.  Normally, I’m not a fan of their public displays of affection.  I mean, come on, I dated the guy too.  When I passed them today though, I just thought what it would be like when Toby and I got to that point.  And that made me even happier as I entered the room for English.  I was one of the first people in the room, so I headed to the seats where Toby and I sat last week.  Just as I dropped my bag, he entered the room.  When he saw me, he flipped his sunglasses off of his face and smiled.  I absolutely hate myself for saying this next part, but I kind of melted a little bit.  As Toby walked toward me, I noticed Jacob rolling his eyes in the background.  What the hell was his problem?  After being here a whole two days, Jacob suddenly had opinions on things.  Too damn bad.

Before Toby and I had a chance to talk, the bell rang.  Em flew into the room looking flushed.  She better start timing her make outs with Matty better.  Lexie followed her in looking like someone ran over her dog.  For the record, Lexie didn’t even have a dog.  What the hell happened to her?  I glanced at Em and then look at Lexie and back at Em.  Em just shrugged and mouthed, “I don’t know.”  Maybe someone told her unicorns didn’t actually exist.  Who knows?

“Class, as I mentioned on Friday, we’ll be looking at works surrounding love for the first part of the year.”  Mrs. Ferguson really got in the way of gossiping.  “We’ll be looking at Wuthering Heights, The Awakening, Jane Eyre, Othello, and Ethan Frome this year.  Since I’m just going to hand out the books at the end of this period, I thought it would be nice to begin our discussion on what each of you thinks of love at this exact moment in time.”  She went to the board and wrote the word “love” and drew a circle around it.  Really?  We were diagramming our feelings.  Glancing over at Em, she rolled her eyes.  “Who would like to start?  You can just throw stuff out there.”

“God,” replied the girl dressed from head to toe in baggy clothes and had a large cross dangling from her necklace.

“What?”  I asked without even thinking.

“God’s love for us is perfect.  We can’t ask for anything more.” The girl kept her hands clasped in front of her.  Wow.

“I think it’s a decent answer, Margaret,” Toby defended.  Oh shit, he went to church.  I nodded my head in agreement.

“You’re completely right.  I just wasn’t thinking,” I laughed nervously.  Hell, I didn’t buy the line of crap I was selling.  “Monday morning brain fog.”

When I looked at Em, her eyes were almost bulging out of her head.  Suddenly, she raised her hand.  Without waiting to be called on, Em called out, “Sex. Lust.”  Crap.  Em enjoyed goading people.  

“Emerson, sex without love, marriage, and the intention of having a child, is sinful and by no means moral,” Margaret replied.  Margaret had to be the Zealot that Em didn’t like.

“Well, then, it’s a good thing we’re not talking about morals, right?”  Em shot back with a smirk on her face.  “I mean, if we’re talking about a romantic type of love, sex has to be a part of it.”

“How do you know what types of love we’re talking about, Emerson?”  Toby interjected.  “There is more than one type of love.”  I was praying that Em just let this one drop.

“Did you listen to the list of books Mrs. Ferguson read at the beginning of class?”  Em asked with her eyebrows raised.  Wish not granted on my behalf.  “They are all about relationships, and I’m not talking about the kind with God.”

“How do you know?” Toby shot back.  No, no, no.  I shot Em a pleading look which she promptly ignored or didn’t see.

“I like to read.” Em shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly  “I’ve read all of those books.”  She smiled politely except she was not being polite at all.  I was going to kill her.

“Jealousy and betrayal,” Lexie jumped into the conversation.

“What?”  Mrs. Ferguson asked.  Her head had been ping-ponging back between Emerson and Toby.

“I associate the words jealousy and betrayal with love.”  The whole room stared at her.  “Aren’t you going to write it on the board?”  As asked, Mrs. Ferguson put the words on the board next to “God” and “Sex”.  

“Secretive or forbidden,” Jacob called out which broke the tension from Lexie’s answer.  “I read an occasional book too.”  Next to him, Em laughed.  

“Comforting,” I shouted out.  I was trying for a middle of the road answer where neither Em nor Toby would attack me.  No one debated me.

“Respectful,” the girl next to Margaret answered.  Again, we all kept our mouths shut.  Things were starting to look up.

“Intelligence,” Walter called out.  Huh?  

“How do you associate love with intelligence?”  I asked.

“It’s the only way to be certain that you are compatible with someone,” Walter replied.  “Letting your emotions take over is a mistake.”  At this point, I expected Em to get combative, but she remained slouched in her chair.

“Aren’t you supposed to love with your heart or soul?”  I asked.  Who really sat down and made a compatibility chart other than Walter?

Em spoke up, “If you’re smart, you don’t rely on just your intelligence or your emotions.  You need to use your brain sometimes to see things clearly.  In any case, love is imperfect.  It always is.”

“So you’re telling us that Matty Fitzgerald is not your perfect soulmate?”  Toby asked.  

The look Em shot back at him was one of pure disgust.  I was really going to have to talk to her soon about backing off Toby.  After this class, I was positive that she had not gotten past the pool incident.    “I’m not really sure that my love life is on the table for discussion.  If you’re asking if I’m interested in you, I assure you I’m not.”  I stared at Em stunned.  She knew I liked him and she just attacked him; in fact, she was being a complete bitch.

“I would never ask,” Toby remarked staring back at her.

“I think we are getting off topic,” Mrs. Ferguson commented just as the bell rang.

“Hey Toby,” Em called out as she walked out of the room.  “As for Matty and me, there was a reason I walked into the class blushing.”  After everything Em did, she still couldn’t be happy for me.  Some friend.

About the Author

I'm not really going to write a biography. Though I am supportive of the high schools and colleges I have attended, it's probably not actually the most interesting stuff about me. I'm going to do a list of five really random things instead for now.

1) I like making lists. It's weird, and I never actually scratch things off of the list.
2) I sing and dance in the car like a maniac.

3) For the first six years of my life, I truly believed a shark lived under my bed. I watched Jaws at too young of an age.
4) Without a doubt, I am a night person. I am enormously grumpy when first woken up in the morning.
5) When I was younger, I read almost every Nancy Drew book, both new and old. I had a notebook, and I would take notes to see if I could figure out who the "bad guy" was before Nancy did. We probably tied.

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