Crossing The
Barrier
The Gray Eyes Series #1
By Martine Lewis
Publisher: BMJ
Chanapi
Release Date: March 22, 2016
Genre: Young
Adult
#1 - LILY
“I wonder what would
happen if you lost your ability to shield.”
That simple question from
Lily’s best friend, Sandra, almost got them killed. As Lily Morgan drove them
to school for their band practice in her Mini Cooper, it took all of her
limited driving skills to keep them on the narrow suburban road and not in the
ditch.
“Let’s not ever mention
this again!” Lily’s heart raced at the thought of it.
Sandra Jones was the best
friend anybody could dream of. She was also everything Lily was not. She was
outgoing, tall, and beautiful with her long, straight blond hair and blue eyes.
She always wore the nicest outfits, and guys regularly asked her out on dates.
She could have been part of the popular crowd had she wanted to, but she was
perfectly content being in the marching band, just like Lily.
Sandra and her family, in
addition to Lily’s uncle, Charlie, were the only people alive who knew what
Lily could do; she had the ability to feel the emotions of the people around her.
The only way for her to function and have a close to normal life was to build
mental shields, which prevented the barrage of emotions from continuously
assaulting her. Sandra knew how important shielding was to Lily, particularly
in an emotion-infested place like high school.
“Just saying. I mean,
you’ve been giving me the silent treatment since we left home. I had to find a
way to make you talk.”
“Well, that’s not a good
subject on a good day.”
“Then, what’s eating you?”
“My mother, again.”
“I don’t understand. Why
don’t you take Charlie’s offer and move in with him?”
“It’s my house, Sandra. If
anything, she should be the one moving out.”
“Not going to happen, not
until the courts kick her out. You know that better than I do. She’s not going
anywhere.”
Her friend was right,
unfortunately.
“Can we move on to
something else?”
“What did she want this
time?” Sandra asked instead. “Another party to introduce you to your future
husband?”
Lily nodded. She could
easily imagine Sandra rolling her eyes, and if she hadn’t been driving, she was
sure she would have seen her do exactly that.
“I don’t get it,” Sandra
continued. “She’s not even your real mother.”
“I don’t get it either.
Why does she keep throwing me at those guys?”
“Beats me,” Sandra said. “Did
you say no?”
Lily remained quiet. She
never said no. She still held the hope that if she did exactly what her mother
requested, maybe one day she would approve of her.
Hope definitely made
people stupid.
“When will you, Lily?”
Sandra asked, turning toward her. “You deserve better than this.”
Lily sighed. She had tried
to explain it numerous times before, but Sandra never understood. After all,
Sandra’s mother loved her and was always so proud of her.
“David said football
practice starts today,” Sandra said, changing the subject.
Lily felt her best
friend’s eagerness at sharing the news, and she knew what was coming next.
“Malakai will be there.”
Ever since she had
admitted to Sandra that she liked the star wide receiver over a year ago,
Sandra brought him up every chance she had.
“Why don’t we talk about
your love life for a change?” Lily suggested.
“Oh, no, we’re so not.
Yours is so much more fun.”
It was Lily’s turn to roll
her eyes. “So, what else did David say?”
“They should begin
practice around nine this morning.”
“They have it so much
easier than we do,” Lily said, turning onto the access road that led behind the
school.
“You got that one right.
If they practiced half as much as we did, they would wear paths in the football
field.”
“That’s probably why we
practice on hot, steamy asphalt,” Lily said as they arrived in the parking
area.
“It sucks, really. Why
don’t we get to practice their amount of hours and they, ours?”
“Because what we do is
more complicated?” Lily suggested with a smile.
Sandra shrugged and
glanced out the window.
“Look at it on the bright
side.”
“There is one?” Sandra
asked, irony coating her tone.
“No!”
They were both laughing
when Lily pulled into her usual parking spot.
Martine
Lewis is a forty something who was born and raised in the French speaking
province of Quebec, Canada. She spent her childhood looking forward to her
summer vacations at the farm, which were a nice escape from the suburbs where
she lived.
Her
first written endeavor was a 200-page handwritten Duran Duran bandfiction which
she wrote when she was eleven years old. Of all her written work, this is the
only one she no longer has.
All
throughout high school, Martine wrote more bandfictions and some original work,
then she went to write fanfictions in the Star Wars, Buffy and Harry Potter
universes. Her fanficiton in the Potterverse are mostly centered on characters
of her own creation and can be found on fanfiction.net.
Following
her viewing of Roswell on Netflix in 2012, Martine wrote book two and three of
the Gray Eyes Series, then went on to create the Gray Eyes Series universe in
which she has been playing ever since. She writes contemporary coming-of-age
romance fiction (young adult/new adult) with a twist.
Martine
is an avid reader and rollerskater. She loves sushi, hot chocolate on a cold
day, and the beach. But what she loves above all else is to curl on her chair
with her computer and write more stories for her readers.
Martine
currently lives in Houston TX with her two cats.
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