Five Seconds of Winter

By Olivia Schwarz

Seventeen-year-old Winter Evans hasnt had the best luck in life. After a horrific experience during her senior year, her life has been turned completely upside down. Fragile and frightened, she feels she will never be able to trust anyone again.

After Winter graduates from high school, her parents send her from home in Boston to stay at her aunt and uncles beach house in Alabama. There, she meets Carter Baizen, the heir to a billion-dollar fortune and a hotshot player who is used to getting what he wants. But he cant seem to get to Winter, something that drives him crazy. Carter decides hell do whatever it takes to win her overand quickly falls in love in the process. The spark between the two is electric and undeniable, but Winters past is holding her back. When the force between them grows too strong to ignore, she is faced with a decision. Can she overcome her fears, learn to trust, and give in to her desires, or will it all come crashing down and break her even more?

In this young adult romance, a girl dealing with the trauma of a recent event and the hotshot boy who loves her spend a summer beneath the stars that will change their lives forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Dec 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781480824454

Olivia Schwarz

Olivia Schwarz lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Book preview

FIVE SECONDS OF

Winter

Olivia Schwarz

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Copyright © 2016 Olivia Schwarz.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2446-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2444-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-2445-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015920266

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/29/2015

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to my amazing dad Martin Schwarz

Who has supported, and loved me my whole life without any judgment

Without you I wouldn’t be who I am

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my family and friends who have always been there for me.

You all know who you are.

CHAPTER 1

Winter

"I’m coming!" I shouted down the stairs at my mom, who was waiting for me to pack my bag. My sweet, amazing parents had just told me they were shipping me off for the summer to stay with my aunt and uncle at their beach house in Blue Springs. I immediately protested, but apparently they couldn’t care less about my life.

I have to go! my mom yelled at me.

I’ll call you both when I get there. Love you. I hung up the phone with Meredith and Layla, my two best friends, my sisters, my everything. We grew up together and do everything together. I was freaking out that I’m not going to be with them for two whole months! I was planning on spending the summer with them to tan, shop, and go on road trips, but now I’ll be in some lame town in Alabama—Blue Springs, to be exact. Why my aunt and uncle chose to leave Boston, I’ll never understand. They abandoned the Red Sox! Who does that? It’s not like I’m a baseball fan or anything. I actually think the sport is really boring, but still, it’s messed up.

My uncle Rick became a partner at some hotshot firm (or something like that) out there. Like, please, was their life not good enough here? Well, anyways, that’s why they moved. My aunt Jenna and cousins Brody and Carl were forced to go, also. I hardly ever see them anymore. It’s been, what? Like three or four years? We used to have the best time as kids, causing havoc around town. I’m an only child, so it was amazing to have them around. That’s another issue I have with my parents. Just one child? Just me? Why would they do that to me? What the heck were they thinking?

If I didn’t have Meredith and Layla, I would just sit in my room watching Disney movies all day. Okay, I still do that, but it gets so boring in this house. I know, I’m lame, and it’s embarrassing.

With my dad traveling all the time, it’s just my mom and me. She really is the best mom ever. I’m just super mad at her right now for making me go to Alabama, but she deserves to have a life. She and my dad are going on a six-week adventure to Europe in a week.

I haven’t been to my aunt and uncle’s beach house yet. My parents say its massive, double the size of their house in the ’burbs. Is that even necessary? Probably not. They’re most likely just trying to show off. Whatever. The whole family loves it out there and couldn’t be happier, so that’s fabulous. (I’m being sarcastic.) The boys will be at the beach house for the entire summer with me and I’m actually excited to see them. It’ll be great—that is, of course, if it’s anything like when we were younger. They probably won’t even recognize me. When they left, I was really short and had braces. I definitely wasn’t the most attractive. I’m still not, but at least I have good teeth, which is very important to me.

Jenna and Rick told my parents they had some work to do for their charity this summer. They started it a couple of years ago. It’s called ‘Fight the Battle,’ and it’s for research on strokes. Since Rick cant leave the firm, they’re basically gonna leave us kids there all alone. That’s a major plus, because I won’t have to report back to anyone about how much my life sucks, which it does, but that’s another story.

My parents keep saying things like, This will be good for you! and You need to forget about the accident. Move on. I could move on very well, thank you, right here, with just me and my friends. I hate how they call what happened to me an accident. It’s like the truth haunts them. If what happened haunted anybody, it should be me—which it does, and it’s absolutely awful!

My mom is taking me to the airport because my father had to go on an emergency trip to China. Big shock. Not. I don’t know what my father does for a living. I used to ask him all the time, and he would say consultant; then it was something with numbers. Blah blah blah! It got way too confusing, so I stopped asking.

After about thirty minutes of my mom screaming at me to hurry up, I finally finished packing. I put on my comfy jeans and a black tank top, grabbed a sweater, and headed for the car. Maybe if they had given me more warning, I would’ve been prepared and I might’ve taken the whole thing better. I graduated high school just last week, and now my life was completely changing. Welcome to the real world, Winter.

I know I should be grateful that I get to spend my entire summer at a beautiful beach house, but my friends and I are all going off in different directions in the fall, so this was supposed to be our last summer together. Soon, everything will be different, but no matter what, it’s going to be the three of us forever, even if we’re all in different states.

All throughout high school, people tried to become friends with us, but we didn’t care and we weren’t interested in anyone else. We weren’t the popular kids. Actually, in a weird way, we were. We had nicknames, given to us by other kids. Meredith was Merebitch, Layla was the nice one (she really is nice, but never afraid to stand up for herself), and I was the Snow Bitch. I know! My name is Winter. Real original, people. I wasn’t bitchy; I was just quiet. It was because I was with Dylan—Dylan James, quarterback of the school football team, hottest guy in school. We were the golden couple. I’m a pretty private person, so I didn’t like being on display, but I couldn’t resist him. Dylan was the love of my life—until last summer, that is. I thought I loved him, but now I know he’s a douche bag, the biggest douche bag in Boston, as a matter of fact.

I was away at camp, like I had been every other summer. This summer was actually the first time I haven’t gone. I’m different now, and I just couldn’t handle the vibes or the people there anymore. Anyway, one night, I decided to come home to surprise Dylan. I missed him so much and I was ready to take our relationship to the next level, if you know what I mean. His front door was always unlocked, so I walked up his front steps, turned the door handle, and ran straight upstairs to his bedroom. And there he was—having sex with Monica Adams, the sophomore slut. The whole world stopped in that moment. I was devastated! How could this be happening to me? I thought.

Then just months later, the accident happened. I hardly sleep at night anymore. I shake a lot. No, it’s more like convulse. One minute, everything was perfect, and the next, my world was over. My parents, Meredith, and Layla try to help me, but it was pointless because nothing can or ever will. I just have to accept the fact that my life really, truly sucks!

My friends are boy crazy, especially Meredith. She thinks the best way to move on from everything is to find a hottie, but I’m not ready to date. I’ll never be ready to date. As if I could let anyone touch me. No way. Not after…ugh! I can not think about this right now.

Mom? I asked quietly.

Yes? She raised an eyebrow at me, like she thought I was about to ask something crazy, which I wasn’t.

Do you think I’ll ever get over what happened?

These things take time, honey, but yes, I do. You’re a very strong and courageous young woman, she explained. You take after me, and you get your stubbornness from your dad. I nodded and smiled. She’s right, I hope.

We drove for about twenty minutes until we finally arrived at the airport. Mom and I didn’t talk very much, which is weird because we usually never stop talking. We’re very close. I tell my mom everything, literally everything. First kiss, first boyfriend. She wanted to kill Dylan as much as I did when I caught him cheating.

I still don’t know why he did it. I never gave him the chance to tell me. He sent me a million text messages, apologizing and saying he made a mistake. He called me over and over again, but I never responded, not once. And then when school started this past year, I ignored him. Layla and Meredith were great through all of this. Most of the time, they didn’t let him get anywhere near me. When he did come around, I just pretended that he didn’t exist. He saw that the hate in my eyes was real. To this day, I haven’t said one word to him since that night I caught him in bed with Monica. He broke my heart, and embarrassed me in front of the entire school, and for that, I will never forgive him. Through it all, though, I realized I didn’t really love him, that it was all just a fantasy.

My mom had already checked me in online before we left the house, and had my boarding pass sent right to my phone. Oh, how things have changed. Technology is crazy these days. My mom is always right on top of things, always so organized. Very Martha Stewart of her. It’s great because I am so not organized. All that was left to do now was check my two large brown suitcases and go through security. Mom gave me a big, long hug, told me she loved me, and then left—just like that.

I’m really depressed. Not seeing my parents for two months is going to be really hard. I know they’re just doing what they think is right, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Being with them and Layla and Meredith is what’s right and best for me. I need them all now more than ever.

Now boarding flight 781 in service to Alabama. Will passengers seated in rows 15 and higher please board now using gate 14? That’s me! Seat 17a. I got a window seat! I HATE the aisle. I always fall asleep and the cart smacks right into me. It’s so painful. Once I get to my seat, I let out a huge sigh, take my book—‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’—out and begin reading.

Here I come, Alabama, here I come.

CHAPTER 2

CARTER

Incoming, Pete whispered into my ear. Just great. Spencer Reed was coming over here. I dated her for a little while last year but half-way through the summer, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I mean, she’s the hottest girl in Blue Springs, by far, but she expected me to be her ‘bitch,’ and no way is Carter Baizen anyone’s bitch.

My parents expected us to be together. I only agreed to go out with her to shut them up. Of course, her looks didn’t hurt. My parents are very demanding and involved in my life, especially my dad. Work hard. Get straight A’s. Play football. Get into Harvard. Take over the business. That’s really all they care about. I got into Harvard, and if I hadn’t, I think I’d be dead right now. So, that’s where I’m heading in September.

After college, I plan to move far away from him, some place where no one knows who I am. In Blue Springs, you can’t go anywhere without seeing ten people you know. It really is that small. I’ve been coming to Blue Springs every summer forever. It’s my safe haven, my place to get away and relax … sort of.

Actually, Pete and I just got to Blue Springs a couple hours ago from Birmingham. Pete’s my best and oldest friend. He’s a little crazy and out there, but he’s always been there for me. He’s that friend I know I can count on to have my back no matter what. As soon as we got here, we came straight down to the pier to get one of Mama’s Famous Funnel Cakes, the best funnel cakes I’ve ever had. They’re crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The strawberries in that secret sauce with vanilla ice cream are amazing.

Hey, Carter, hey, Pete, Spencer said. Then she winked at me. Crazy bitch!

Oh, uh, hey, Spencer. I was trying to be as nice as I possibly could. After I broke up with her last year, she went into ‘crazy ex-girlfriend’ mode and basically stalked me for the rest of the summer. I was forced to leave Blue Springs early to go home. I had football practice a week later anyway, but would have liked to stay that last week. Being here makes me happy and she kind of ruined that for me last summer. She also told our parents, which wasn’t fun. As if I don’t have enough problems with them already. Spencer’s like the queen bee. Nobody messes with her. All the girls want to be her, but I don’t see why. She’s hot. I’ll give her that. 5'6", blonde hair, blue eyes, nice body, but boy is she dumb. Oh, and MEAN, SO mean! The way she treats people disgusts me. She’s what I would call a superficial, narcissistic bitch. I’m lucky she goes to a different school than me in the city, or I definitely would’ve been in trouble.

My parents don’t get here ’til next week, so I’m having a party tonight. I expect to see you there. She was staring right at me. This is awkward, I thought to myself.

Blue Springs gets crazy in the summer. There’s a party almost every night. This summer I was supposed to be working at my dad’s company Baizen Oil. Instead, I convinced my mom to let me come here for my last summer before college. My father was not happy when my mom said yes, but everybody knows she’s in control at my house. If only she would