Today is the release day of the new book The Undesirable by
S. Celi!
Title: The
Undesirable
Author: Sara Celi
Publisher: Lowe
Interactive Media
Pages: 225
Book Description: This book
is Mature YA/ New Adult. It is recommended for readers 14 and over.
What if
everything you knew turned out to be a lie?
Charlotte
Walker knows how to live under the rule of The Party. She has managed for 18
years. She helps out her drunken mother and keeps life going at a familiar,
steady pace. She doesn’t ask questions, even though she has many of them in her
heart.
Fostino
Sanchez knows how to live under the rule of The Party, too. For 19 years, he’s
worked to be the perfect Party member. He knows what must be done to keep
Maxwell Cooper in power, and how find the The Undesirables that threaten to
take away everything that matters.
As the
months go by, what matters most to Fostino is Charlotte Walker.
While their
love blooms, danger comes to Charlotte and Fostino’s small hometown of Harrison
Corners, OH. Threats they never knew existed could take away all that they care
about. And just when these two teens think they know what will come next,
Charlotte learns the truth about a secret she has long suspected.
What
Charlotte finds out changes everything.
EVERYTHING.
THE UNDESIRABLE
is Charlotte Walker’s story, from her point of view. It is a thrilling,
suspenseful tale of love, curiosity, adversity, and maturity against the
backdrop of a futuristic war.
Should
Charlotte trust Fostino with what she knows? Can she trust anyone? Will she
find it in herself to rise up against terrible odds?
What if the ultimate
Undesirable is her?
Excerpt
CHAPTER ONE
Fostino’s
frown mixes with his tightened jaw. “Are you serious about this, Charlotte?
Really serious? I just — I can’t believe you’re breaking up with me.” His
eyebrows pull tighter than any seam I have ever sewn.“God. I’m so stupid.” His
mouth sets in a hard line. My heartbeat jumps to my ears. I bite down hard on
the inside of my bottom lip.
Oh, God. Did I make the right choice? Will he understand?
Will he always hate me?
My breath
quickens as the air constricts all around the two of us. I almost taste the
awkwardness in the air. I pray my pain doesn’t show on my face.
How do people manage to stay friends after something like
this?
I can’t.
No, I won’t. Not this time.
I stand in
this apartment and know that I failed to make this breakup painless.My words
cover this small dusty room. All the muscles in my back tighten and twist from
the stress. We will never be just
friends — ever.
He gets up
from the couch and pulls on his worn, muddy combat boots. He seems wounded,
broken, and defeated. He radiates pain. He picks up my keys to the apartment
from the coffee table. Awkward. My
mind flickers to the beginning. I remember the moment in the town square when
The Party transformed our lives. I want to go back and change everything since
then.
“I wanted
to take care of you and shield you from—” He stops and gestures to the windows
and the crumbling world outside this room. His soulful brown eyes glint with
anger. “Everything.” Now he exhales. “I guess I’m not surprised. Not after all
that happened.”His shoulders slump.
Sweat beads
on the back of my neck. I swallow some of my uneasiness. My plan just might
work. I taste the hollow victory in the back of my throat.
Good.
“I—I’m
sorry.” I have nothing else to say, no words to make this better. In minutes,
I’ll leave the apartment and flee my life because I have no other choice.
“I’ll never
understand you. Or this.” Fostino shakes his head of dark waves. He fixates on
the bare wall behind me.
His words
hurt, but Fostino can’t know how much he affects me. I push away the urge to
reach out and hold him tighter than I ever hugged anyone. Instead, I shudder a
little in my shapeless black dress — the one the government issued me last
month. I hate this. I am not a cold person. I don’t hurt people on purpose.
“Fostino,
I—“
In a few
steps, I reach his side. My shaky hand reaches out and the keys link our hands
together. I smell him through all the dust in this studio apartment with
the Murphy bed in the corner. I inhale just remember how he smells. I’m so afraid
I will forget it. Each second ticks by worse than the last. This conversation
is hard, so very hard. I bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself
from saying something I can’t back up. If only I could tell him the truth,
share my terrible secret, and find a way out of my bleak future.
If only.
“Did you
ever mean anything you said? I mean, even for one second. Did you ever even
like me?” He balls his hand into a fist once I raise my arm to stop him. He
keeps talking anyway. “I told you I loved you right here in this room, even
though you didn’t say it back. I meant it.”
My stomach
twists and heart pounds while I keep up the lies. “Well — I did like you.” I emphasize my next words as
my toes curl in my sandals. “I thought I loved you once. I wanted to say it,
but—”
“But, I’ll
always love you. I will.”
He mutters
something else I can’t understand, and his words undo me. I give in and kiss
him. His lips are a gentle push against mine, and the kiss is so good it hurts.
His lips taste like a nectar I want to savor forever. But I can’t. This moment
must stay cold and Fostino needs to know this is goodbye for good. Before the
kiss intensifies, I pull away and remember my task. The black Humvee full of
people waits around the corner. We all must leave soon. They gave me fifteen
minutes to make sure this break-up is a clean one. Time is up.
Now.
His eyes
lock mine. “Why won’t you tell me what’s really going on?”
Oh no. He
can’t know the truth.
Hurt him.
They told
me I must end it.Loving me will destroy him. It will destroy everything.
My teeth
bite my lip hard on the inside as I search for the words. “It’s — well — we
just…we aren’t right for each other. I don’t want you to come after me. We need
to end this. This relationship—”
“Whatever.
It’s fine. You shouldn’t make stuff up.”Fostino sounds very weary and haggard
with each sentence.
I take my
keys and slide them into the black wool satchel on my left shoulder. Then I
take the deception a step further. “I won’t ever love you, Fostino Ahmed.” The
words taste like rusted metal. “I just won’t.”
My hands
open the door with purpose. A few steps will take me through an ancient hallway
that links this apartment with sixteen others. I push myself through the
doorframe and pull the door shut behind me. Then I take the first steps of what
I know will be a lifetime of solitary strides. With each step, I sever this
connection.
Once
outside, I round the corner and slide into the alleyway as the armored vehicle
hums a signal. The Humvee’s fat tires set off its flat black paint, tinted
windows, silver chrome handles, and a large armored grill on the front and the
back. This car is a fortress, made for combat and intimidation. All the cars
the government owns mirror this one. I slip inside and sink into black leather.
Soon, we
will all leave Harrison Corners, Ohio. This small band of rebels will take me
some place. And I don’t care where. I just want to disappear, and need to more
than ever. After I close the Humvee door, Thompson speaks first.
“Did he
believe you?” Thompson throws the vehicle into gear and drives it down the
alley. He gets irritated when I don’t answer right away and runs a thick hand
through his long dreadlocks. “Well?”
About Sara Celi:
New Orleans
born Sara Celi has lived all over the United States. She calls the Greater
Cincinnati area and the Queen City home.
She's
currently a TV reporter and anchor in Oklahoma City, and has spent more than a
decade working in journalism. She graduated cum laude from Western Kentucky
University in 2004.
Celi is
also a contributing author to Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Power of Positive.
The
Undesirable is her debut novel.
In her
spare time, she likes to read, shop, write, travel, run long distances,
volunteer with the Junior League, and fundraise for Cooperative for Education,
a non-profit providing educational opportunities for Guatemalan kids.
Author’s Links
Add The
Undesirable to your Goodreads list
Sara Celi
Twitter: @saragceli
The
Undesirable Twitter: @undesirablebook
Yowser! Now that is one sexy cover! Sounds great!
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