~ For The Love of a Phantom ~ By @Sylvie8921 ~ [the final book would have italics, but it doesn't work on here so....] Prologue - August 22, 2017 - Royce I’m really nervous about senior year. Memories from North Heights still haunted me. I knew more bullies than friends there, and everyone that liked me seemed to like their other friends more. Genesis, my cousin, was sitting next to me on my bed, watching the clock. I sighed and thought about everything that had happened, and how everything could go wrong. All the thoughts overwhelmed me, and suddenly, I felt tears falling down my cheek. Great, I thought. School hasn’t even started and Genesis is already seeing me get all anxious. I’m a bit touchy like that— my emotions like messing with me. Genesis must’ve heard me crying, because she turned around to look at me. “What is it, cuz?” Genesis asked. She’s older than me, so she sometimes treats me like a little brother. “I— I’m jus— just— kind of— nervous…” I wish she didn’t have to see me like this. “It’s normal, Royce,” she assured me. I ended up crying a little more. “Get over here,” Genesis said, motioning me to her side of the bed. I moved over. “Wha—“ She hugged me before I could finish. I was still crying. Suddenly, I wished I could make someone else feel that same sense of contentment that I felt. That feeling that he or she belonged in the world. Everyone deserves that, I thought.
