A Distant Voice
Bridie Blake
Evernight Teen
Contemporary
Young Adult
72,000 words
In life you don’t find your voice. It finds you.
Violet Hayes
knows how to survive the year living with her grandmother in the small town of
Wandorah, Tennessee.
• Make Rose
happy
• Don’t sing
or play guitar
• Avoid Sally
Shaw
• Ignore
Carter Jenkins
It seems
simple enough, right? Wrong.
• How do you
keep a depressed sister happy?
• How do you
deny yourself your dream?
• How do you
avoid a friendship?
• And how do
you ignore a boy when he’s everywhere you turn?
Violet’s
to-do list just became a whole lot harder.
14+ due to adult situations
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book trailer:
Excerpt:
He smiled and
reached out to pull the guitar toward him. He strummed his fingers over the
strings and played a few chords before glancing over at me proudly.
“Impressive.”
He offered me
the guitar. “Your turn.”
“And what
makes you think I can play?”
“Your
bloodlines.”
I snorted out
a laugh and clapped my hand over my mouth in horror.
“Play away,”
he said, ignoring my snort, and pushed the guitar into my hands.
I stared down
at it with my mouth hanging open. The way my heart raced you’d think he’d
pulled the pin on a grenade and handed it to me. Relax Violet. It’s an
instrument. It can’t hurt you. Unless I tripped over it and broke my neck. And
that could happen. Probably not entirely realistic while I’m holding it, but if
I dropped it and then got up and tripped, it … oh dear god, what is wrong with
me?
His mom
called out his name and he gave me an apologetic shrug. “I’ll be right back.”
He left the
room and I remained where I was, the guitar still burning my hands. It had been
months since I’d played. Months since I’d felt that wave of joy I got whenever
my fingers ran over the strings.
A yearning,
so strong it sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach, washed over me and my
fingers moved. They ran over the strings, playing whatever came to mind. I
closed my eyes and let myself be swallowed up by it all. I allowed myself to
forget and be something else. Someone else.
I didn’t know
how long I stayed like that but a shuffle behind me forced me back to reality.
I opened my eyes and twisted around. Carter stood in the doorway, a look of
wonder on his face and it made me squirm. I dropped my hands, rested the guitar
on his bed, and scrambled to my feet. “I should go.”
He moved
toward me slowly, as though scared a sudden movement would startle me. “What’s
wrong?”
“Nothing,” I
mumbled and folded my arms across my chest, tucking my hands into my armpits
where they’d be safe and wouldn’t stray towards anymore strings.
His brow
creased and I saw him trying to work out what had happened but I didn’t want to
talk about it. I tried to duck out of his room before he asked me anything. He
gripped my arm, stopping my quick exit. “It’s okay,” he said. “You’re allowed
to enjoy things. You’re not betraying your sister by having fun or doing the
things you want to do.” His voice, filled with sincerity and kindness, caused a
lump to take up residence in my throat.
His hand ran
along my arm and towards my hidden hand. He tugged on it until he freed it and
he squeezed my fingers gently. I shook my head because he’s right, but he’s
wrong at the same time. It was guilt over Rose that stopped me doing things but
when it came to music, there was so much more to it.
Music
destroyed Gran’s life. It ruined Mom’s childhood. I couldn’t love something
like that because if I did, I’d open myself up to the same hurt. And I’m not
anywhere near as strong as Gran. It would destroy me. It would be my trigger.
I wanted to
tell him that. I wanted him to understand. But the words wouldn’t come out of
me.
Author Bio:
Discover more
about her at www.bridieblake.com, https://www.facebook.com/AuthorBridieBlake
or @BridieBlake on Twitter!
Giveaway: $25 Amazon GC
