by Dakota Chase
Dylan and I made plans to meet on weekends as often as possible once school started. He had his car, and I had high hopes of buying one soon. I took a job busing tables at the diner, and saved every spare penny toward that goal. Anyway, neither of us was starting school until the fall semester, and we had a long, glorious summer stretching out ahead of us.
Billy’s folks took him back in, and they began family counseling. He’s on medication and his symptoms have been arrested for the moment. There’s always the possibility the virus will mutate or progress into full-blown AIDS somewhere down the road, and the medication often makes him very ill. His life isn’t going to be an easy one, and I cry a little inside each time we meet because it was all so unnecessary.
He’ll never be the same, but I’ll always be his friend and be there for him, and he knows it.
I learned sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between the good people and the bad people until it’s too late. My mom and I learned that lesson from Doug, and Billy learned it from Robbie.
Robbie moved out of town and didn’t leave a forwarding address. I sure wasn’t sorry to hear he’d gone, but Billy cried. I guess Billy was still holding on to some fragile, misplaced hope Robbie would change his mind about their relationship. Love is blind, as they say, and in Billy’s case it was blind, deaf, and mute. I still don’t think he understands Robbie used him. Sometimes I doubt he ever will.
My mom is set on divorcing Doug, although he’s still in town and we see him from time to time. He tried to come back to her once, and I was thrilled and proud when she slammed the door in his face and dialed 911. He spent a couple of days in jail for breaking the restraining order and hasn’t been back since.
Mom locks the doors, even during the day when we’re both at home. She’s afraid Doug will get drunk and come gunning for us. I don’t think so, though. He had a taste of jail and I don’t think he liked it very much. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry, I guess.
I realize now I’d misunderstood all along: the world hadn’t really changed the year after I turned seventeen.
It was me who’d changed.
A Note from the Author
WHILE ADVANCES in medicine are made all the time, the fact remains that HIV and AIDS are incurable, deadly diseases that are preventable. For further information on HIV, AIDS, and the prevention of both, visit the Centers for Disease Control website at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv, or the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Network at http://www.glsen.org, which offers information for students, teachers, and parents.
For more information on bug-chasers and gift-givers, I highly recommend the documentary The Gift, by Louise Hogarth.
Be safe. Be smart. Be happy.
Dakota Chase
More from Dakota Chase
This trip down the rabbit hole will reveal a very different Wonderland.
Alice’s younger brother, Henry, is sent to a bizarre world he never really believed existed. His best chance to get home is the Mad Hatter, who is a remarkably stranger, if more handsome, fellow than Henry expects. Hatter’s only goal is to keep his head firmly attached to his body, and his best chance for doing it is to bring “Boy Alice” to the Red Queen as ordered. It’s dislike at first sight for Henry and Hatter, but since circumstances force them to remain together, they try to abide each other.
During their travels and adventures through Wonderland, they grudgingly forge a friendship that tests their values and established beliefs. Learning to tolerate each other and then to compromise, offers them a chance for something more when they reach the end of their journey—if they can survive the obstacles along the way.
Readers love Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase
“This book was like a huge and delicious delicious chocolate dessert.”
—Reading Addict
“This modern take on Wonderland by author Dakota Chase is nothing short of ‘wonderful.’”
—Paddylast Inc
“Mad About the Hatter by Dakota Chase is definitely a fun and easy read.”
—The Geekiary
“In a world where everything’s topsy-turvy, Chase manages to get everything just right.”
—Inked Rainbow Reads
DAKOTA CHASE writes stories of the fantastical, of ghosts and monsters, and time travel. She lives right on the border of Normal, and has been known to take quick trips into the next town over, Crazy, although she usually finds her way home again without little trouble. She shares her home with Nibbles, her Shar-Pei/Labrador mixed breed that may or may not be a werewolf in disguise, and a husband who definitely isn’t a werewolf even though he’s been known to be shaggy and howl from time to time. She has four grown children, one of whom has spawned, resulting in two grandchildren whom she adores. When she isn’t writing, Dakota likes to crochet odd things, like killer shark slippers and skull dolls. She loves sushi, spicy foods, and grapes, but is highly allergic to any form of math.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dakota.chase.1840
Website: www.dakotachase.com
Twitter: @dakotachase
E-mail: [email protected]
By Dakota Chase
Changing Jamie
Mad About the Hatter
Published by HARMONY INK PRESS
www.harmonyinkpress.com
Published by
HARMONY INK PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
[email protected] • harmonyinkpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Changing Jamie
© 2017 Dakota Chase.
Cover Art
© 2017 Paul Richmond.
http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Harmony Ink Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or [email protected].
ISBN: 978-1-63533-248-3
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-249-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016915183
Published January 2017
v. 2.0
First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2008.
Printed in the United States of America