Snippet

Here's a random snippet of my third WIP because I'm bored. It's only got around 10k words so far.

Comments are welcome :)

I blocked out the sound of the preacher and the quiet sniffles from the crowd that had come to say goodbye. I focused on the carpet under my feet; blue, green and black lines, a pattern, twisting and turning around the room. Each strand holding up its partner, keeping every string in its place the way a partner should. It was as if the carpet mocked me. A voice whispered sweetly into my ear. You failed. You failed. You failed.

The voice was right.

A hot anger boiled in my stomach until it burst without warning, spreading over my chest, down my arms and legs. I found myself standing. I was angry with Dan for dying, angry with myself for not telling him to stay at the Academy, angry with the people crowding this room, pretending they knew him half as well as I did. I lashed out on the pew in front of me, kicking it and startling a bald man seated there. He jumped up and spun around. All eyes in the church flickered toward me.

Two large, heavy, hands grabbed my shoulders. I realized what I had done--made a fool of myself and disrespected the person who mattered most. Dan. In my embarrassment, I pushed past Mr. Stark, who had stood to restrain me, and ran for the exit doors. Tears ran like bullets from my eyes blurring the room. I heard my name being called from somewhere behind me, the voice unmistakable. My brother Jackson was running after me.

“Alice, wait!” he yelled, but I didn’t stop running. I couldn’t. I was on autopilot.