Save Me_Yours Truly, Razberry Sweet Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1 - I’m Going To Hollywood!

  Chapter 2 - I Get Caught in My Own Web

  Chapter 3 - I’m Trapped in the Middle of a Girl Fight

  Chapter 4 - Pepper’s Replacement

  Chapter 5 - Disillusioned

  Chapter 6 - How Can You Overlook Me, Razberry Sweet?

  Chapter 7 - My First Audition

  Chapter 8 - This Isn’t Transformers

  Chapter 9 - The Real Side of LA

  Chapter 10 - This Is the Sound a Broken Heart Makes

  Chapter 11 - Goodbyes Can Be New Beginnings

  Save Me

  Yours Truly, Razberry Sweet (Razberry Sweet #2)

  Megan Linski

  Copyright © 2017 Gryfyn Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The reproduction or utilization of this work in part of in whole including xerography, recording, and photocopying is strictly forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  BISAC Category: YA Contemporary

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Distributed in the USA by Gryfyn Publishing

  For information about custom editions, special sales, ARCs, and premium and corporate purchases, please contact Gryfyn Publishing at [email protected]

  Manufactured in the United States of America

  Cover by Asad Ali

  Previously published as Save Me in 2012 (First Edition)

  Contents

  Other Books by Megan Linski

  Introduction

  Chapter 1 - I’m Going To Hollywood!

  Chapter 2 - I Get Caught in My Own Web

  Chapter 3 - I’m Trapped in the Middle of a Girl Fight

  Chapter 4 - Pepper’s Replacement

  Chapter 5 - Disillusioned

  Chapter 6 - How Can You Overlook Me, Razberry Sweet?

  Chapter 7 - My First Audition

  Chapter 8 - This Isn’t Transformers

  Chapter 9 - The Real Side of LA

  Chapter 10 - This Is the Sound a Broken Heart Makes

  Chapter 11 - Goodbyes Can Be New Beginnings

  Lights, Camera, Razberry Sweet

  Acknowledgments

  The Witch’s Curse

  About the Author

  Other Books by Megan Linski

  Alora

  These Starcrossed Lives of Ours

  The Kingdom Saga

  Kingdom From Ashes

  Fallen From Ashes

  Redemption From Ashes

  Prince of Fire

  The Rhodi Saga

  Rhodi’s Light

  Rhodi Rising

  Rhodi’s Lullaby

  Creatures of the Lands Series (co-written with Krisen Lison)

  Kiatana’s Journey by Natalie Erin

  Vera’s Song by Natalie Erin

  Wyntier’s Rise by Natalie Erin

  Vixen’s Fate by Natalie Erin

  Midnightstar by Natalie Erin

  Angel’s Rebellion by Natalie Erin

  The Shifter Prophecy

  Court of Vampires

  Den of Wolves

  War of Witches

  Heir to Russia

  To my high school friends.

  It was… really something.

  SAVE ME - FINAL SCRIPT

  NOT FOR REVISION.

  Directed by

  MEGAN LINSKI

  Starring

  RAZBERRY SWEET

  THIS SCRIPT IS THE PROPERTY OF MAYHEM PICTURES, HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA (2017).

  Chapter 1 - I’m Going To Hollywood!

  May 15, 2010

  Limesville, Connecticut

  “Get out of my restaurant!”

  I’m pushed down the steps of the Limesville Diner and onto the dirt road. The manager rips off my apron and avoids touching the splotches of spilled food all over my clothes.

  I fall head over heels onto my ass. I’m covered in a mixture of barbecue sauce, mustard, and what I’m pretty sure is half of some lady’s melted makeup.

  God, I’m talented.

  “And don’t come back!” the manager screams as he slams the door.

  I raise a hand to ruffle my hair only to find that it’s smothered in chili.

  “Agh! Gross!” I shout. I smear my hand onto my ruined pants and grab my cell.

  It takes way too long to ring. My heart pounds with every second that my Uncle Logan avoids picking up the phone. He knows it’s not good when I call in the middle of work.

  “What is it?” he asks instantly. I can tell that he’s fearing the worst.

  “I lost my job,” I say. I get off the ground and look at my stained shirt. There’s no way the washing machine can save it. Half a burger still sticks to it.

  “Again, Raz?” Uncle Logan asks.

  I scuff the ground with my beat up sneaker. “Uh… yeah.”

  “How’d it happen this time?” he demands.

  “I… uh… tripped. I spilled a tray of food all over a couple customers. And the manager. And me. Actually, I think everybody in the restaurant got hit. It’s all over the walls. Once it started, it just got out of control…”

  My voice dwindles to a tiny murmur as I recall the incident. Like I said, I’m talented.

  “But that’s the second job you’ve lost in three weeks!”

  “Third, actually.”

  “Why were you born clumsy?”

  Silence.

  “Never mind. I’ll come get you.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ll walk.”

  I hang up, then dial a different number. “Yeah, Puppy? Cancel movie night with the guys. I’m in trouble.”

  I walk in the house a half an hour later feeling degraded and worn out.

  “What happened to you?” Mitzy asks, eyes widening at my disgusting appearance.

  “I told the manager to go to hell. I told you it would happen.” I smile.

  “You did not.” Her eyes narrow. “You probably just got fired again.”

  She knows me too well. I head toward the kitchen to get some water. I’m blocked by none other than Aunt Sara and Uncle Logan.

  “You took a while getting home,” Uncle Logan says. He’s not surprised that I look like this.

  “I’d take a while getting home too if I just got fired from… what is it, job number nine? Ten?” Aunt Sara questions.

  “It’s not my fault. I don’t know why I can’t hold down a job,” I complain.

  “Because you’re a bum,” Mitzy answers plainly.

  “First it was the grocery store, then it was the gas station up the road…” Uncle Logan says, and it starts all over again.

  “The art store, the factory, the barn…” Aunt Sara adds.

  “Hey, those cats were asking for a bath. They smelled terrible,” I say defensively.

  “They were barn cats, Raz,” Aunt Sara says shortly.

  “And the art store wasn’t my fault. She told me to liven up the place. What was I supposed to do?” I argue.

  “You don’t paint all over the walls and say that she told you to do it when she didn’t, Raz. It’s stupid, and lacks common sense,” Aunt Sara says with a flat tone.

  “It was Soldier’s idea, and he was right. For an art store, those walls were pretty damn boring.”

 
“That’s another thing,” Uncle Logan says. My stomach clenches, because I know what’s coming. “I think your friends are causing a lot of trouble for you lately.”

  “They’re not Bethany,” I instantly snap. At the hint that my friends are like the girl I used to idolize, I’m immediately on the verge of losing it. Whenever something goes wrong, my guardians think that it’s my friends’ fault. They consider me easy to manipulate.

  I can’t exactly blame them, though. Even a year later, the mistakes I made with Bethany still haunt each step I take.

  And I’m getting pretty sick of it. All I want to do is move on.

  “Okay, Soldier and Zoar were the ones who lost you your job delivering pizzas, you can’t argue with that,” Uncle Logan points out.

  “I can’t help that they locked me out of the car and then ate all the pizzas,” I complain. “They got their reward. A couple hours of barfing and sleeping on the floor—”

  “In my bathroom,” Aunt Sara grumbles.

  “—And they swore they wouldn’t do it again.”

  “I still don’t know how they did that. Ate all those pizzas between the two of them,” Mitzy puts in.

  “Who knows where they put it? It’s not like I don’t like working. It’s just…”

  I run a hand through my hair as they look at me expectantly. “I mean, I did like my job up at the department store.”

  “Until Pepper and Puppy decided to play hide and seek in the clothes and the customers got so upset they called the cops,” Uncle Logan growls.

  “It didn’t help that Puppy punched some lady in the face when she scared her,” I reluctantly admit. “But that lady was really mean, anyways. I never liked her when she came to my register. She acted like it was my fault that we didn’t have anything in puce. Puce is a nasty color! Why would we carry it?”

  “And the grocer’s…” Aunt Sara puts a hand to her face, as if she’s completely traumatized.

  “They can’t expect me to work there at what midnight when no one’s around and not touch the scooters!” I protest. “That’s asking for trouble.”

  “So you call up your friends and play NASCAR? Is it your mission to spend your summer broke?” Uncle Logan says.

  “It wasn’t that bad,” I argue.

  “Raz, you guys held a race in the aisle ways and nearly knocked over a poor old man,” Mitzy says.

  “What are you complaining about?” I ask her, and she shuts up. “I covered up for you when you crashed the bike that you wanted to ride so bad!”

  “You two ruined a bike?” Uncle Logan’s eyes bug out of his head.

  I look up at the ceiling. “I didn’t tell you about that? Weird.”

  Aunt Sara looks at Uncle Logan. She collapses onto his chest with a sigh, like this is some 1940’s movie and she can’t handle all the stress.

  Uncle Logan wraps his arms around her and says, “Whatever. Bottom line is, you’ve lost eight jobs since the new year started. Nobody in Limesville is going to hire you now.”

  “Nobody does already. I’m surprised I’ve gotten this many offers,” I say. I plop into the lounge chair.

  “Not on my cushions!” Aunt Sara cries. She flings herself out of Uncle Logan’s arms and yanks me up from the chair.

  “At least he didn’t get anything on it. Surprisingly,” Mitzy subs in. I sneer at her, and she sticks her tongue out at me.

  Uncle Logan puts a hand to his face. “Mitzy, go to your room. We have to talk with your cousin.”

  “You’re gonna get it now,” she sing-songs before trouncing to the stairs.

  I grimace. She snickers maliciously before the door to her room upstairs closes with a thud.

  Uncle Logan rubs his cheek sleepily. “I just don’t get it, Raz. Why can’t you behave yourself?”

  After a long silence, he adds, “The way it looks now, you’re not going to be able to go to Hollywood.”

  My stomach sinks to the floor. After the community watched the movie I made with my study hall class last year, the entire neighborhood got together to raise money to send a couple of us there for a few days. They picked Puppy and me, since we were the lead roles, and were paying for over half of our trip— we had to fund the rest.

  Now it looks like I’m not going to go.

  “What! No! Uncle Logan, I have to go to Hollywood! Me and Puppy have been planning this for months!” I beg.

  “Raz, we’re stretching our paychecks as it is. We already told you, you have to help pay for it, but you won’t be able to if you can’t keep a job,” Aunt Sara says. “Is it your ADHD? Do we need to up your medication?”

  “I don’t need to be drugged up all the time. You know how those pills affect me. I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning, let alone hold a job when I’m on them!” I protest.

  “You’ll be lucky to go to Hollywood,” Uncle Logan says. “You barely finished last semester with a C plus average.”

  “Please,” I say, begging now. I have no shame when it comes to this. “I’ve looked forward to this all year. I can’t drop out now. Please.”

  Aunt Sara and Uncle Logan look at each other. Neither of them want to tell me no. They know how much this means to me.

  “Here’s the trade-off,” Uncle Logan says. “We scrape the money together, and when you come back you take the first job I’ve found you, no exceptions, and you stick with it for at least six months. If you lose this next job, Raz, you’re out of here.”

  “Done.” I head upstairs to go take a shower.

  “And your friends are not allowed where you work, either!” Aunt Sara cries out after me. “You certainly don’t need any help!”

  “Got it!” I shut the bathroom door, take off my sunglasses, and wipe off the cobbler that’s smeared on them. I’ll do anything… anything… to go to Hollywood.

  Chapter 2 - I Get Caught in My Own Web

  “Sweet!” Mr. Shubacher says the next day, thoroughly tired of my antics.“That is enough!”

  I grin up at him as I snag a pen out of the air with one hand. It’s the class after study hall, my least favorite... science. It’s also the time of the day when I’m the most hyperactive, so it’s practically impossible to get me to do anything.

  Every time I walk into his class I can tell that he wishes that I was my mother, the perfect little angel that sat in his class when he was twenty-something and answered every question correctly. Or my father, who won first place at every science fair. It’s obvious that his vision of what I could’ve been was far from the monstrous truth.

  In his eyes, I can see the apparent question; Why me, and not somebody else? Teachers like to barter me. I admit that I can be a bit of a jerk when I’m in a bad mood.

  And when it comes to Mr. Shubacher, who loves to remind me about my parents at every passing opportunity, I’m always in a bad mood.

  The class is about as interested in our fight as they would be with a fly on the floor. This happens everyday. I do something stupid, and Mr. Shubacher kicks me out.

  Today I haven’t been able to stop juggling things and I’ve got a book perched on my head. Puppy looks a little amused, but Pepper’s disapproval is apparent. She’s told me before it irritates her that I take time away from class.

  Mr. Shubacher is trying to contain his anger as best he can, but I know that after eight months of science with me he’s losing his patience.

  He sighs loudly and says, “You’re going to be a senior in high school, Sweet. Don’t you think it’s time you grew up?”

  I shrug. That’s a mistake. The crappy, overused science book comes tumbling off my head and right onto his tapping foot.

  “Agh!” he yells, hopping up and down. “That’s enough! Sweet, go down to the office!”

  The receptionist doesn’t even look at me as I come in to sit down. “In here again, Mr. Sweet?” she asks.

  “Yes,” I say.

  “You’re going to be the reason Mr. Shubacher has to retire early.”

  “We could only be so lucky.
”

  Mrs. Meryl smiles and goes back to typing on her keyboard. Bored, I start playing with a paper clip that’s sitting on one of the side tables. I bend it around back and forth and wriggle it until it flings out of my hands, nearly hitting Mrs. Meryl in the nose.

  She flings herself backward, away from her desk, then gives me a glare. She fixes her glasses and lets out a loud sniff.

  “Sorry,” I apologize. “You want me to…”

  “Sit. Be quiet,” she demands, pointing at me.

  I slump in my chair and watch as the minutes tick by slowly.

  At the end of the hour, the door opens with a bang that would wake the dead. I jump in my seat. Soldier and Zoar come barging into the room, tripping over themselves as they hurry to my side.

  “Raz,” Zoar says. “Raz, you’ve got to see it!”

  “See what?” I ask, totally confused.

  “It’s stupid,” Soldier growls angrily. “I swear when I find out who did it…”

  “Did what?” I ask.

  Zoar grabs my arm and says, “Come on, it’s in the bathroom.”

  “Boys, he can’t—”

  Mrs. Meryl’s words are cut off with the ringing of the school bell. Without a moment’s hesitation Zoar yanks me out of the office, Soldier following.

  He pulls me into the second floor men’s room, pushes me into a bathroom stall and points. There, written on the stall in permanent marker, it says, “Razberry Sweet: The Criminal of Limesville High.”

  Beneath it is a crude drawing of me and Bethany, crashing a car and bawling our eyes out.

  Over the school year some kid had got on the Google machine and finally figured out the connection between me and Bethany Cade. Now, everybody knows that I stole a car and ran from the police with her, and nearly escaped jail time. I haven’t heard the end of it since.