Neon & Nets (Venom Next Gen #1)

Prologue

Prologue

Sofia

“You can do it, Sofia!” Knova stands at the top of the ladder, pumping her fists in the air in a one-woman cheer routine. She actually was on the cheer team for a couple of seasons, although she quit last year when she got elected to student council. Then yearbook took over her life.

Knova is an overachiever, the kind of person who can do anything she puts her mind to. That’s why she’s at the top of the rope ladder already.

And I’m… not.

“I don’t know.” I twist my fingers together and squint up at her. Climbing the rope ladder sounds like a special, personal hell, and it holds very little appeal for me. I mean, the reward for all that climbing a shaky ladder is that I get to explore the equally shaky skywalk? Gee, thanks, but no thanks.

Our private school is pretty small, and I know every single person in our graduating class. It’s both a blessing and a curse, especially in times like these, when all my friends and frenemies are watching Knova’s routine. If I chicken out right now, I’ll never hear the end of it.

On the other hand, we graduate in, like, two days, so whatever.

“Come on, nerd!” Viktor, who is currently dicking around on the skywalk, cups his hands around his mouth to taunt me. Because of course he does. A lot of our parents are friends, our fathers all played on the Vegas Venom at one time or another, and the rest of Viktor’s family is super nice, but for some reason, he’s a super-mega-asshole ninety percent of the time. I swear it’s because of the age gap between him and his big sister Vivian. It’s like he’s another firstborn.

I wish I could think of a comeback. I wish I wasn’t scared of this stupid rope. If I try to climb and fall, I know they’ll just laugh. I’m fuller-figured, like my mom, except she’s crazy confident and sexy. She passed on the curvy-girl genes but not the self-assurance. I’d rather be known as the nervous girl who was too scared to participate in the graduation activities than as the fat chick who ate dirt at the end of senior year. Right now, those feel like my only two options.

“Shut up, Viktor!” Knova whirls toward him and braces her hands on her hips. “Or I’ll tell your mom you were being a jerk.”

Viktor’s face turns red. “Stay out of it, Knova. You’re as useless as the ‘K’ in your name.”

Knova crosses her arms. “Is that all you’ve got? I’d like to remind you that I’m the editor of the yearbook. I saved your ass by not using the picture your mother provided of you with sparkly painted fingernails while rocking a tutu and a tiara.”

Viktor’s face gets even redder. “My sister…”

“Has a great sense of style. Now, either leave Sofia alone, or guess what’s making it into the graduation slideshow?” Knova smirks at him like she knows she’s won this round. Judging by the whoops and jeers of our classmates, they agree.

I’m glad Knova’s on my side—God knows I wouldn’t want her as an enemy—but now I kind of have to climb the ladder. Ugh, I hate this. I can’t wait until classes start in the fall and I can actually meet some new people. The Vegas Venom circle is tight, but it’s small.

I’m sizing up the ladder again when a hand lands on my arm. “ Hey,” Knight says softly, “I can help, if you’ll let me.”

Knight is Knova’s twin brother. He’s a hockey jock, like Viktor, but he’s not a jackass. He’s also less, uh, intense than his sister. I don’t know if I have a best friend, but if I had to pick one, it’d probably be Knight.

We’ve been tight since we were kids, running through the desert chasing lizards, and once, spending a whole summer daring each other to find scorpions under rocks—until one of us actually did, and that ended fast. We’d sneak into the arena during our dads’ practices, pretending we owned the ice, and spent more weekends than I can count out at Red Rock Canyon, climbing rocks we probably shouldn’t have. Knight always made sure I wasn’t alone, whether it was dragging me along on some wild adventure or just hanging out and talking about everything, even when we were too young to get what we were talking about. He’s been there, through every high and low.

“You don’t have to…” I begin.

I stare at his intense expression, and my breath stalls. We’ve always been connected in a way that made it easy—Knight never treated me like “just a girl,” and he made me feel safe, like no matter what trouble we found ourselves in, he’d have my back.

“Hey, it’s no problem.” He gives me one of his easy smiles and grabs the rope ladder, pulling it taut by leaning his weight against it. “Give it a shot.”

“I’m, um.” Oh, jeez, my face is on fire. I press my palms to my cheeks so that no one else will see how embarrassed I am. “I’m kind of heavy…”

“You’re not heavy,” Knight assures me. “I’ve got you.”

And because there’s no way I could possibly flake out now, I finally climb the damn ladder .

The rope is rough against my palms, and even with Knight’s help, the ladder is still kinda shaky, but it’s actually not too bad. As much as I dread the inescapable shame of gym class, where I’m one of the few girls who can’t do a single chin up or touch my toes, I do have some muscle tone. With each rung, my confidence grows, until I reach for the next rung and feel the edge of the platform instead.

I did it.

“Told you!” Knova cheers. She hovers around me, eager to offer me a hand if I need it, but I’ve got this. I straighten up, and as I do so, I gasp at the view.

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “This is amazing.”

The treehouse and skywalk are part of a new development, although it’s nothing like the gated community where most of us grew up. This area overlooks a spectacular manmade lake, and there’s more greenery here than I’ve ever seen this close to home. In the summer, we go up north to Wisconsin to visit Mom’s family. Up there, it’s crazy green. This view is totally different, since most of the species out here are native plants. Cacti sprout up from the red earth, and the familiar ruddy striations of the rocky landscape are reflected on the surface of Lake Serenity.

It’s beautiful. I’m so glad I made the climb.

“Hey, Sofia?” a voice below me calls.

I look down to see Knight at the top of the ladder, waiting for me to move. Once again, my face heats up as I shuffle to the side. “Sorry,” I mumble. “I was just enjoying the view.”

“I bet Knight was enjoying the view, too,” Viktor taunts. “He was totally looking up your skirt.”

This time, a few of the other kids laugh along with him. I immediately grab the hem of my skirt and clutch it in both fists. “For your information, I’m wearing tights under this! There’s nothing to see.” Wearing skirts makes my thighs chafe; wearing tights makes me insanely self-conscious. The obvious compromise was to wear both since I’d literally melt if I’d tried to wear jeans today. It’s approximately eleven billion degrees.

As a little shudder of regret rifles through me, I stare at Knova’s incredibly long and sculpted legs showcased by her tiny shorts. Her chestnut hair cascades in effortless waves, and her sharp blue eyes seem to take in everything around her with confidence, especially when it comes to boys. She looks like she could rule the world without even trying, completely unaware of the power she has. Boys yearn for her and other girls yearn to step into her shoes. I often wonder what it would be like to be Knova. Even for only one day. To shed this self-consciousness I carry like an incurable disease.

Viktor grips the side of the bridge and swings back and forth. The kids behind him cackle as they sway erratically. “Knight and Sofia, standing in a tree…” he sing-songs.

Knight isn’t looking at me, and I can’t think of anything to say to make Viktor stop. I wish I could disappear. Maybe make him disappear. Why does he always have to make every situation worse? For a split second, I consider jumping. But then my dad’s face appears behind my eyes saying, “You are bellissima , principessa . The best daughter a man could ask for.” For some strange reason, Marco Rossi adores me. Letting that man down in any way sends knives of pain straight to my heart.

Once again, Knova comes to the rescue. “You know, Vik, if you’re gonna sing little kid’s songs, I think it’s only fitting that a certain photo of you as a little kid ends up in the yearbook. Let’s see what all your floozies think about that? You’ll never get your micro dick sucked ever again.”

Viktor scoffs, but at least he stops singing. “How long are you gonna hold that over my head?” he growls.

“Until we graduate and I never have to see your face again,” Knova retorts.

Viktor shakes his head. “I got it. Too bad Knight’s a pussy and needs his twin sister to fight his battles.” He turns and makes his way across the bridge, swinging it as he goes.

“Misogynist ass,” Knova mutters under her breath, not loud enough for him to hear. Then she throws me a wink, her grin mischievous. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

I fiddle with a lock of dark hair that’s fallen free from my braid. “Didn’t you guys already place the yearbook orders?”

“Oh, weeks ago,” she says with a sly smile. “And let’s just say I made sure that baby picture got some prime real estate.”

I giggle, partly from nerves. Knight crosses his arms and gives his sister a stern look. “You know I don’t need you fighting my battles, right?”

Knova shrugs and waves him off. “Please. I’ll fight Sofia’s battles too. You know, since she’d rather not get her hands dirty.” She shoots me a playful smile, making it clear she’s just giving me a hard time.

“Hey, don’t drag me into this!” I say, laughing, even though a part of me bristles. I’m not Little Miss Perfect—far from it. I just don’t like taking risks that end in public humiliation. “I climbed the ladder, didn’t I?”

Knova leans back, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Not knocking you, just stating facts. Where were you when we snuck out and made that bonfire on the fifth hole?”

I purse my lips. “Home. And not grounded for the next three weeks, thank you very much.”

Knova flicks her hand dismissively. “Worth it. And where were you when we threw our own after-hours prom party?”

I roll my eyes. “At home, sticking to my curfew. My dad actually likes to sleep at night, and I’d rather not give him a reason to stay up worrying.”

Knova shakes her head. “Weak. We all had a curfew. Most of us just came home, then snuck back out so we could continue our dates.” She raises one eyebrow and pauses for dramatic effect. “Oh. Right. You didn’t have a date.”

Today just keeps getting better and better. I bite the inside of my cheek and look down at the toes of my sneakers.

For the second time today, Knight’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Knova…” he says in a warning tone.

I might not be able to stand up to Viktor Abbott, but I can stand up to my friends. “Maybe I didn’t want to waste my time on one of these immature mouth breathers who’s never going to amount to anything!” I blurt.

Knight clears his throat.

“Not you, obviously,” I clarify. “You’re Knight. My friend. You’re cool. I mean, none of us would hang out with Viktor if our parents didn’t have a history. I’m not sure we would hang out, either. At least not now that we’re mostly grown up.”

“We would,” Knight says at once.

“Are you sure about that?” I look over my shoulder to where he’s standing. Like his twin, he’s changed a lot in the last year. His baby fat has melted away, and he looks… like a person. I don’t know how else to describe it. I have two little brothers, and when I look at them now, I see children. When I look at Knight and Knova, and even Viktor, it feels like they’ve turned into adults almost overnight. It’s extra unfair since he and Knova are almost a full year younger than I am. Viktor and I are at the top end of the cutoff for our grade. Knova and Knight were born so much later, so late that they would have started a grade below us if our dads hadn’t pestered the elementary school to let us all be in the same class. Even with my head st art, I’m somehow behind. Knight’s got cheekbones and biceps and a little scar under his eye from the time he took a puck to the face during a tournament.

When I look in the mirror, I see the human equivalent of uncooked dough. I don’t know who I am yet, not like they do, and I’m secretly terrified that I’ll never figure it out. Or, worse, that there’s nothing to figure out at all. What if I’m meant to spend my whole life being… average?

What if I’m just a colossal disappointment to my amazing parents?

“I like to think we’d be friends no matter what,” Knight says. His words are so at odds with my own insecurities that I barely register them.

“Sure,” I say, shrugging his hand away. “But it doesn’t matter that much, does it? I mean, we’re about to go to college. We’ll be living in different states. We won’t see each other. We won’t have any reason to stay in touch.”

Knight looks hurt at my words, but Knova snorts. “You’re going to be out of state? With an Italian father? Cute.”

Her attitude is starting to get to me. “He’s not Dante. He’ll be fine.”

She laughs again. “Please. Marco will definitely not be fine.”

I clench my hands into fists.

“Let it go, Knova,” Knight says.

“Okay, okay.” She turns on her heel, then smiles over her shoulder at me. “I’m glad you climbed up here, Sofia. I knew you had it in you.”

“Thanks.” I relax a little and answer with a smile of my own. “The encouragement helped.”

Knova heads off toward a group of her yearbook friends, who are taking selfies on the edge of the bridge, with the lake in the background. She blends in with them seamlessly. I’m only a little jealous. Mostly, I want to feel that comfortable about myself. But everywhere I go, I stand out. Maybe going to college will help with that.

“Don’t let her get to you,” Knight says. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time in college. You’re really good at school.”

I know what he means, but the phrasing bugs me a little. I know I’m good at school. The thing is, school’s temporary. If I was good at math, or English, or science, that would be great. If I cared about any of it, that would be even better. As it stands, I test well, and I can write a five-paragraph essay with my eyes closed or rattle off important dates in U.S. history.

None of it matters. None of it thrills me. I’m just going through the motions in search of something that makes me sit up and say, “This. This is it. This is my thing.”

Hopefully, when I find it, I will also discover the trick to winning my parents’ approval. Even though they always encourage me—always say the right words—there’s something lacking in their eyes when they look at me.

And it leaves me feeling empty inside.

“Thanks,” I mumble.

My ambivalence must show in my face. “Hey,” Knight assures me, “that’s a compliment. You’re at the top of the class while the rest of us were… dealing with mouth-breathers.” He winks.

I flick his shoulder. “It’s not like you were doing a whole lot of dating, either,” I point out.

“Sure wasn’t,” he agrees. “But that’s okay. It meant that we got to hang out more.”

I study his absurdly handsome face, with his strong cheekbones, intense hazel eyes, and the hint of stubble on his chin that is new as of winter break. I really like Knight, and I’m going to miss him more than most things about Las Vegas. A tiny part of me wishes we’d gone to prom together, assuming that he even likes me enough to not be embarrassed being my escort. I think he does. Doesn’t he? Maybe. I know I like him.

But I’m friends with his sister, and our dads are best friends. Cash is also my godfather. Dating his son would be almost as bad as dating my own brother.

The mere thought is enough to give me the ick.