The Naturals (The Naturals, #1)

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

It was warm and safe and happy—but it wasn’t me. It never was.

Five years was a long time to go without a body. Without answers.

Probably not a pervert, then.

how did you arrive at that conclusion

“You know,” he said conversationally, “I knew you’d come.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Even though you told me not to?” He shrugged. “My inner Boy Scout had to try.” If this guy had an inner Boy Scout, I had an inner flamingo.

I knew then—the way I always knew things—that Michael had been in my shoes once and that he had opened the door. His warning was genuine, but I opened it, too.

no that one's just obvious lmao it has nothing to do with your instincts or whatever

A few students who were being trained to analyze crime scenes, pore over witness testimony, and track serial killers. What trouble could we possibly get into?

sex?

As I took in her clothing, the girl closed the space between us until she was standing so close to me that I thought she might reach out and start twirling my hair instead of her own.

kiss

“What’s your real name?” For a few brief seconds, vulnerability and irritation passed over Lia’s features in quick succession. “Your name isn’t Lia?” Sloane sounded strangely hurt at the idea that Lia might have lied about something as simple and basic as her own name. “Yes,” Lia told her. “It is.” Michael stared at Lia, raising his eyebrows ever so slightly. “But once upon a time,” Lia said, sounding less and less like herself with every word, “my name used to be Sadie.” Lia’s answer filled my mind with questions. I tried to picture her as a Sadie. Had she shed her old name as easily as she changed clothes? Why had she changed it? How had Michael known?

“Balloonists are more likely than other circus performers to suffer from subconjunctival hemorrhages.”

I saw a review saying Sloane is only spewing random facts to remind us she's there and I'm now realizing how absolutely true that is

Sloane slipped an arm around my waist. “There are fourteen varieties of hugs,” she said. “This is one of them.”

She was going to cut me. She was going to slice me open. She was going to kill me.

She was supposed to protect me. She was supposed to watch out for me. At night, when Daddy went away and the monster came out to play, she made him angry. She made him angry on purpose so he’d hit her instead of me.

fuck

My aunt was dead. Just like my mother.