Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits 1.50)

Captivating, mysterious, fun and deep…for readers of John Green or any realistic YA authors, I would highly recommend this new wonderful novel.”

—Fresh Fiction

Five Strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost. Don’t miss one of the most anticipated debuts of 2014, Let’s Get Lost by Adi Alsaid.

Available in ebook.

Order your copy today!

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. She crashes into their

lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila’s own 4,268-mile

journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you’re looking for is to get lost along the way.

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Oz

It’s three in the morning, and Mom and I continue to wait. The two of us deal with the heaviness of each passing second differently. She paces our tiny living room at the front of our double-wide while I polish my combat boots in my room. Regardless of what happens tonight, we have a wake to attend in the morning.

The scratching of the old scrub brush against my black boot is the lone sound that fills the blackened house. We both pretend that the other isn’t awake. Neither of us has turned on a lamp. Instead, we rely on the rays of the full moon to see. It’s easier this way. Neither of us wants to discuss the meaning of Dad’s absence or his cell phone silence.

I sit on the edge of my twin mattress. If I stretched my leg, my toe would hit the faux-wooden-paneled wall. I’m tall like my dad, and the room is compact and narrow. Large enough to hold my bed and an old stack of milk crates that I use as shelves.

Mom’s phone pings, and my hands freeze. Through the crack in my door, I spot her black form as she grabs her cell. The screen glows to life, and a bluish light illuminates Mom’s face. I quit breathing and strain to listen to her reaction or at least hear the roar of motorcycle engines.

Nothing. More silence. Adrenaline begins to pump into my veins. Dad should have been home by now. They all should have been home. Especially with Olivia’s wake in the morning.

Unable to stomach the quiet any longer, I set the boot on the floor and open my door. The squeak of the hinges screeches through the trailer. In two steps, I’m in the living room.

Mom continues to scroll through her phone. She’s a small thing, under five four, and has long, straight hair. It’s black. Just like mine and just like Dad’s. Mom and Dad are only thirty-seven. I’m seventeen. Needless to say, my mom was young when she had me. But the way she slumps her shoulders, she appears ten years older.

“Any word?” I ask.

“It’s Nina.” My best friend Chevy’s mom. “Wondering if we had heard anything.” Which implies neither Eli nor Cyrus have returned home.

From behind her, I place a hand on Mom’s shoulder, and she covers my fingers with hers.

“I’ll be out there watching their backs soon.” Now that I’ve graduated from high school, I’ll finally be allowed to enter the family business.

A job with the security company and a patch-in to the club is all I’ve thought about since I was twelve. All I’ve craved since I turned sixteen and earned my motorcycle license. “They’re fine. Like I’ll be when I join them.”

Mom pats my hand, walks into the space that serves as our kitchen and busies herself with a stack of mail.

I rest my shoulder against the wall near the window. The backs of my legs bump the only piece of furniture in the room besides the flat screen—a sectional bought last year before Olivia became ill.