PROLOGUE

Stop reading this!

If you're reading this, you just did the exact opposite of what I told you. Congrats. You just made the same mistake I did when I found – STOP IT! DON'T READ! – the Book.

You're still reading, aren't you?

Well, obviously, if you've made it this far, you're not interested in stopping. That's bad. That's what I did. I ignored the warnings, I took it as fiction... And look where that got me!

You're probably wondering who I am. I am Carol Jones. I lived – lived being the key word – in California, up until one month ago. I am twelve years old and have I ever got a story to tell.

You want to hear it, don't you?

I have carefully detailed the events of the past month for you. I figured you'd wanna hear the tale. Just remember: I'm a good liar. You probably won't be able to tell which parts of my story are real, and which ones I'm sugar-coating or over-blowing.

It starts in June...