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Cravings
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Also by Allison HobbsBrick
ScandaliciousPut a Ring On ItLipstick HustlaStealing CandyThe Sorceress
Pure ParadiseDisciplinedOne Taste
Big Juicy LipsThe Climax
A Bona Fide Gold DiggerThe Enchantress
Double DippinDangerously in Love
InsatiablePandoras Box
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S t r e b o r B o o k s
N e w Y o r k L o n d o n T o r o n t o S y d n e y
Cravings
!"#$$# %'$()*
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Strebor BooksP.O. Box 6505
Largo, MD 20792http://www.streborbooks.com
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents areproducts of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblanceto actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
2012 by Joelle Sterling
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by
any means whatsoever. For information address Strebor Books, P.O. Box 6505,Largo, MD 20792.
ISBN 978-1-59309-419-5
ISBN 978-1-4516-5588-9 (ebook)LCCN 2012933939
First Strebor Books trade paperback edition October 2012
Cover design: www.mariondesigns.comCover photograph: Keith Saunders/Marion Designs
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Manufactured in the United States of America
For information regarding special discounts for bulk purchases,please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949or [email protected]
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers
Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
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This novel is dedicated to my niece, Jordan Arianna Sealy
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CHAPTER 1
olland Mannings hand wandered to the nape of her neck.
She cringed as she touched the area where her newly shorn
hair came to a point. She felt utterly nakedcompletelyvulnerable with short hair. Hair that once hung to her shoulders
now abruptly stopped at her jawline on one side. The other side
had been raggedly hacked at the top of her ear.
Shed asked for a layered cutan asymmetrical bob.
No problem, the stylist had reassured her when Holland gave
her a picture of singer, Rihanna. The stylist did a hack job. A first
grader using a pair of safety scissors could have done a better job
than that so-called professional.Staring in the mirror, Holland winced as she analyzed her
reflection. She tried to focus on her good points. Her skin was
smooth and flawless, showing no signs of her long battle with
acne. And with her braces finally off, straight teeth were a major
improvement. Sadly, neither of these enhancements could deflect
attention away from her scraggly hair. Allowing her hair to be
hideously butchered like this was total self-sabotage.
Holland zoomed in on her nose, which had always been a
problem area, and her nostrils seemed more pronounced, flaring
unattractively. Her chin looked particularly elongated and pointy.
Oh, God!Angst-ridden, she closed her eyes. She envisioned stream-
lined nostrils and at least an inch of chin surgically removed.
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2 J o e l l e S t e r l i n g
Chaela Vasquez and lots of other girls at school had gone under
the knife to enhance their looks. If Hollands mom could afford
it, shed get some work done on her nose. Not a full nose job
more like a mini-procedure. A few tiny snips to her nostrils would
make a huge difference.
Glancing in the mirror, she turned her face to a different angle.
There was no improvement; she still looked gross! Getting her
hair cut was the worst decision shed ever made. This horrendous
style magnified her poorest features. Heartsick, she fought the
urge to cry. There was no time for tears; summer break would be
over in less than a month, and she needed to come up with asolution.
Frustrated, she grabbed the swath of hair that hung limply in
her face. This piece of hair held no purpose. She grabbed a pair
of scissors and considered cutting it. With lots of gel and hairspray,
perhaps she could give herself a mini-mohawk. Bad idea. Creative
hairstyling was not one of her strengths. Imagining a far shoddier
hair disaster, she put down the scissors, and released the handful
of hair.Trying to blend in with the popular girlsthe cool kids with
perfect hair and impeccable fashion sense, Holland had attempted
to step up her game, but now she wished shed never bothered.
She should have been content staying under the radar. Now, with
such a noticeably bad hair cut, she could count on lots of negative
attention.
Holland wouldnt be able to handle kids pointing fingers and
laughing at her. To become the butt of cruel jokes would totally
destroy her.
Her best friend, Naomi, was taunted every day. For some unknown
reason, she never went to her parents or asked any authority figure
at school to intervene. She bravely endured the heckling and
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Midnight Cravings 3
jeering and withstood all the cruel pranks that were played on her.
Now Naomis off the hook. Somehow, her parents found out what
was going on, and had her transferred to an all girls academy.
It was painful to think about how cruelly Naomi was treated at
school. No one should have to live like that. Thankfully, Naomis
new school had a zero tolerance for bullying.
Holland returned her attention to the mirror. Hoping to find
some redeeming qualities, she scrutinized her hair once again.
Nothing had changed, and it was terrifying to imagine how Chaela
Vasquez and her groupies would react to her on the first day of
school. God, I wish I could crawl into a hole and hide there forever.All of her problems would be solved if she could go to the
academy with Naomi. But that was out of the question; her mom
could barely afford their regular monthly bills. Private school
tuition was out of the question. Maybe shed consider the idea of
homeschooling meat least until my hair grows back.
Way to go, loser, she chided herself as she imagined her heart-
throb, Jarrett Sloans, appalled expression when he took a glance
at her stupid hair.Holland noticed her mother, Phoebe, standing in the doorway,
observing her. Her expression was hard to read, but Holland could
feel her emotions: a mixture of pity and concern. To no avail,
Phoebe had tried to talk Holland out of cutting her hair.
I thought Id look edgy, Holland said in an apologetic tone.
Its not that bad, Holland, Phoebe replied, wearing a weak
smile that failed to reassure. Its not like you lost a limb. Its only
hairitll grow back. Her words were followed with a headshake,
which Holland interpreted as an unspoken, I told you so.
Do you know any hair-growing spells? Something that works
really fast? Holland giggled as if she was joking, but the desperation
in her voice spoke volumes.
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4 J o e l l e S t e r l i n g
WellI suppose I could do some research. Or I could ask one
my coven sisters, Phoebe said as she turned to go to her work
area that was once the family dining room.
Her mother belonged to an online witchs coven. She spent more
money than she should on occult paraphernalia. Their modest
home was overrun with candles, weird herbs, crystals, vintage
jewelry, and all sorts of witchery tools. Shed recently launched a
website, offering love and money attraction spells. Business was
not exactly booming, but Hollands mother was confident that
word of mouth buzz would eventually direct traffic to her site.
For as long as Holland could remember, her mother had dabbledin the occult, boasting that she and her daughter were the last
descendants of a long line of witches. Holland had never taken
Phoebes claims seriously. There was no proof that either of them
had any special powers.
Last year, her mother was into astrology and numerology.
Before that, she was reading auras and tealeaves. Her mother was
such an embarrassment with her various New Age interests, and
lately shed been getting a lot worse. Her interest in witchcraftwas becoming an obsessionan expensive obsession. Phoebe was
spending so much money on the tools of her trade, she was
neglecting important bills.
Still, in her desperation to get her hair back, Holland was willing
to try anythingeven one of her mothers half-baked spells.
While Phoebe researched spells, Holland mixed a potion of
her own: LOreal, copper-blonde hair color. Grabbing the long
hank of dark brown hair that hung in her eyes and down to her
cheek, she squirted the contents of the plastic squeeze bottle.
The end result was streaked hair that didnt look too bad.
After flat-ironing the front of her hair and applying gobs of gel
to closely cropped parts on the back and the right side, she
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Midnight Cravings 5
miraculously ended up with spiked hair that looked sort of
awesome.
Impressed with the results, she beamed at her reflection.
After a couple more approving glances in the mirror, she
galloped off to show her mother her stunning hairdo.
In the diningslashwork room, Holland was greeted by the
sight of Phoebe sitting cross-legged on the dark tile floor. The
table and chairs were pushed against the wall. She sat in the
center of a chalk-drawn circle.
It was on the tip of Hollands tongue to blurt out that she
didnt need the spell anymore, but Phoebe was already mumblinga chantsomething repetitive and indecipherable. Her eyes were
closed while four white candles burned inside the circle.
Holland gave a little sigh.
Geeze, Mom! This is seriously overkill, she wanted to say, but her
mother was so deep into the spell, she didnt have the heart to
tell her that she no longer required her witchcraft services.
In a moment of panic, Hollands eyes darted to the curtains.
She was instantly relieved to find them closed. The neighborsdidnt need to witness this embarrassing spectacle. Theyd be
freaked out if they could see her mother right now.
It was bad enough that whenever Phoebe went out to the
grocery store, the dry cleaners, or wherever, shed walk up to
total strangers and pass out her card, attempting to drum up
business. It was so embarrassing the way people recoiled after her
mother announced that she was a witch, and she could cast love
and money spells. People sort of automatically assumed that
being a witch was synonymous with being a devil worshipper.
She hoped that her mothers witchcraft obsession would end
soon. Holland would be ridiculed endlessly if the kids at school
found out that Phoebe was a witch for hire.
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6 J o e l l e S t e r l i n g
Holland gazed at Phoebe again, and decided that it was only
fair to respect her efforts. She was, after all, acting on her
daughters behalf. Giving her mother some space and privacy,
Holland quietly slipped out of the front door.
At the end of the block, she veered off the main street, and
zipped onto the dirt path, taking the shortcut to Naomis house.
Naomi and Holland used to share the same social status at
school: unimportant and invisible. Holland and Naomi had both
always been more interested in having their noses stuck in a book
than keeping abreast of the latest fashion trends. They were both
on the D list as far as popularity went. But at some point duringninth grade, Naomi had dropped down to the F list. For no
apparent reason other than the fact that she was a super smart,
straight-A student, she had become a target for bullies.
With Naomi going to a new school, Holland would be utterly
alone. It was clearly time for her to make an attempt to fit in with
other studentsthe cool crowd. Though she hated to admit it,
Holland was seriously considering dumbing down this year.
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