Chapter 1

I could tell when people weren't telling the truth.

When I was eight, my dad brought home a pregnant woman, claiming she was his cousin. I shook my head and blurted out that he was her baby's father.

That night, my mom and I were kicked out of the house.

Before she jumped to her death, she looked at me with nothing but hatred in her eyes.

She said, "You shouldn't have told the truth. You ruined my whole life."

Everyone called me a freak.

I turned to the brown-haired boy standing by on the street and asked if he'd take me home.

He joked, "Be careful, kid. I'm a monster. I eat people."

I knew he was lying.

And I just smiled. "A freak and a monster? Sounds like a perfect match."

Alex paused, a smile flickering in those mischievous eyes of his.

He said, "If you're going home with me, you'd better get used to doing all the housework."

Seeing Alex chatting with me, the group of kids who had been bothering me stopped, clenching their fists tightly, but none of them dared to step forward.

I swallowed hard.

Alex was the toughest punk in this area.

When he was ten, he broke his cheating, abusive father's leg and got him thrown in jail. His mom went crazy after that, but for the past five years, he had been taking good care of her.

I knew Alex was a good guy.

"Deal," I said.

"Good. Come with me then. You gotta clean yourself up before you move in," Alex said, scrunching up his nose at me.

Alex gave me a look of utter disgust, yanked me by the arm, and was just about to get us out of there when he noticed the kids who had been bullying me.

When he saw the baseball bats in their hands, he understood exactly what had happened, and his gaze turned icy.

"What are you looking at? Never seen a real person before? Keep it up, and I'll pop your eyeballs out," Alex growled.

The kids' faces went pale. They dropped their baseball bats and bolted.

"Stay away from this freak and the monster," one of them shouted as they ran off.

I didn't care when they called me names, but hearing them call Alex that made me furious—I threw my fists in the air, itching to punch someone.

"You couldn't even hurt a cat. Why do you think you can beat them up? Let them talk. Now that you're with me, nobody's gonna mess with you," Alex said, grabbing my arm and pulling me away.

I hadn't had any food in days. Ever since my mom jumped from the building, I had been rummaging through trash cans for scraps.

I tried going home, but Nadia Quinn—my stepmom—kicked me out before I could even speak. She held her belly and laughed at how messy I looked.

She sneered. "Your mother died because of you. How dare you come back? Everyone here is calling you a troublemaker."

Even Dad was cold about it. He said, "You could have stayed at the Quinn residence, but you just had to expose the truth. Don't ever let me see you again."

I bawled my eyes out, totally lost on why telling the truth made everyone hate me.

Because of that, my dad threw us out, and my mom killed herself.

Just like that, I went from having a home to being nothing—a kid no one wanted.

A gentle smack to the back of my head brought me back to reality.

"What are you waiting for? Aren't you hungry?" Sierra Carter asked. She was Alex's mother.

Right in front of me was the delicious meal. Sierra was blinking at me with those caring eyes of hers; that scar stretching from her forehead to her chin didn't make her look any less gentle.

She said with a smile, "Just look at you, completely zoned out from hunger. Come on, eat all you want."

I held the fork tight and started scarfing down food, nodding like crazy with every mouthful.

"Relax, no one's gonna take that from you," Alex teased.

However, Sierra gave him a smack on the back of the head.

"Alex, be nice to her," she scolded.

She gave me a gentle smile.

She said, "Don't listen to his nonsense, honey. While I was cooking, Alex told me to make an extra fried egg just for you."

I glanced at Sierra's eyes, then looked at Alex—his face went flustered in a flash.

He said, "Seriously, I only gave her those eggs because they were almost expired. If not, I'd have tossed them anyway."

I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What are you laughing at?" Alex glared at me, half-sulking.

I wanted to say that Alex was lying, but the memory of what happened last time I spoke the truth made me stop.

I just said, "Alex, Mrs. Carter, thank you so much."