it made sense. Or maybe an owl. Weird that it would be so close to the house; it must have been hunting something. Josie was oddly relieved. At least it wasn’t the exotic man-eating cat supposedly responsible for all the unexplained deaths recently. That was something.
Josie yawned. If nocturnal birds were out hunting, it meant she needed to be in bed, sound asleep. Back to school in the morning, back to face the hell that was her social life. She was going to need all the sleep she could get.
TWELVE
12:45 P.M.
“ARE YOU OKAY?” PENELOPE BLURTED OUT WHEN Josie took the seat across from her in the cafeteria.
“You mean more or less okay than I’ve been for the last few days?”
Penelope cocked her head to the side. “Either?”
Josie shrugged. Between the dreams, her mom, and the nightmare that had become her existence at school as teen-gossip topic du jour,
okay
wasn’t really a word that applied to her life anymore.
“That good, huh?” Penelope said, reading between the lines.
“That good.” Josie unwrapped her bean-and-cheese burrito and cracked open a soda while Penelope munched on a bag of Fritos. They ate for several moments in silence, until Josie heard a laugh from the corner of the cafeteria. A light, glittery giggle, and one she knew only too well. Before she could stop herself, she turned around and saw Madison sitting next to Nick at the varsity track team’s table, her head buried in his arm.
Nick turned and at that moment caught Josie watching him. His eyes flicked down to Madison, still snuggled next to him, then back up to Josie, a look of apology in his eyes.
Yeah, like that was good enough.
“You’ve got to ignore it,” Penelope said in her matter-of-fact way.
Josie turned back to her. “Ignore it? How the hell am I supposed to ignore it?”
“I don’t know,” Penelope said. “But you’ve got to figure it out. Stat.”
“Why bother?” Josie threw her arms wide. “Everyone already knows. It’s only matter of time before I’m the butt of every joke at the school.”
“Oh, you already are.”
“What?”
Penelope nodded. “Yeah, apparently the new word for when your boyfriend cheats on you with one of your friends is
Byrned
. It’s trending on Twitter. Even more popular than the unexplained animal attacks.”
Josie groaned and sank her forehead onto the table. She appreciated that Penelope always called it like she saw it, but every once in a while a little tact might have been helpful.
“My point is that you’ve got to start acting like it doesn’t bother you. Or at least don’t stalk him at track practice, okay?”
“Is there anything I do that’s private anymore?”
Penelope shook her head. “Zeke and Zeb told everyone about it in homeroom yesterday. By lunch, it was all over the school that you were stalking Nick and Madison.”
“Shit.”
“And it’s not going to help you, okay? You don’t want him back.” It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a suggestion. Penelope was laying down the law. “So do what you have to do to move on. Because Nick and Madison already have.”
3:30 P.M.
As soon as she got home, Josie made a beeline for her bedroom.
Time to purge.
Penelope was right. She’d been pining away for Nick, waiting for him to realize how miserable he was without her and to ask if she’d take him back. But no more.
She plugged her iPod into portable speakers and scrolled through her song list until she found suitably angry music. P!nk. Perfect breakup music. She pumped up the volume and hit play.
Josie grabbed her plastic garbage can and planted it in the middle of her room. Everywhere she looked, something reminded her of Nick. A memento, a tchotchke, a gag gift. Little things, sentimental only because she’d given them that power.
The movie ticket from their first date was pinned on her corkboard. She ripped it down, sending the pushpin spiraling off to the other side of the room, and dropped the ticket in the trash.
She
Josie yawned. If nocturnal birds were out hunting, it meant she needed to be in bed, sound asleep. Back to school in the morning, back to face the hell that was her social life. She was going to need all the sleep she could get.
TWELVE
12:45 P.M.
“ARE YOU OKAY?” PENELOPE BLURTED OUT WHEN Josie took the seat across from her in the cafeteria.
“You mean more or less okay than I’ve been for the last few days?”
Penelope cocked her head to the side. “Either?”
Josie shrugged. Between the dreams, her mom, and the nightmare that had become her existence at school as teen-gossip topic du jour,
okay
wasn’t really a word that applied to her life anymore.
“That good, huh?” Penelope said, reading between the lines.
“That good.” Josie unwrapped her bean-and-cheese burrito and cracked open a soda while Penelope munched on a bag of Fritos. They ate for several moments in silence, until Josie heard a laugh from the corner of the cafeteria. A light, glittery giggle, and one she knew only too well. Before she could stop herself, she turned around and saw Madison sitting next to Nick at the varsity track team’s table, her head buried in his arm.
Nick turned and at that moment caught Josie watching him. His eyes flicked down to Madison, still snuggled next to him, then back up to Josie, a look of apology in his eyes.
Yeah, like that was good enough.
“You’ve got to ignore it,” Penelope said in her matter-of-fact way.
Josie turned back to her. “Ignore it? How the hell am I supposed to ignore it?”
“I don’t know,” Penelope said. “But you’ve got to figure it out. Stat.”
“Why bother?” Josie threw her arms wide. “Everyone already knows. It’s only matter of time before I’m the butt of every joke at the school.”
“Oh, you already are.”
“What?”
Penelope nodded. “Yeah, apparently the new word for when your boyfriend cheats on you with one of your friends is
Byrned
. It’s trending on Twitter. Even more popular than the unexplained animal attacks.”
Josie groaned and sank her forehead onto the table. She appreciated that Penelope always called it like she saw it, but every once in a while a little tact might have been helpful.
“My point is that you’ve got to start acting like it doesn’t bother you. Or at least don’t stalk him at track practice, okay?”
“Is there anything I do that’s private anymore?”
Penelope shook her head. “Zeke and Zeb told everyone about it in homeroom yesterday. By lunch, it was all over the school that you were stalking Nick and Madison.”
“Shit.”
“And it’s not going to help you, okay? You don’t want him back.” It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t a suggestion. Penelope was laying down the law. “So do what you have to do to move on. Because Nick and Madison already have.”
3:30 P.M.
As soon as she got home, Josie made a beeline for her bedroom.
Time to purge.
Penelope was right. She’d been pining away for Nick, waiting for him to realize how miserable he was without her and to ask if she’d take him back. But no more.
She plugged her iPod into portable speakers and scrolled through her song list until she found suitably angry music. P!nk. Perfect breakup music. She pumped up the volume and hit play.
Josie grabbed her plastic garbage can and planted it in the middle of her room. Everywhere she looked, something reminded her of Nick. A memento, a tchotchke, a gag gift. Little things, sentimental only because she’d given them that power.
The movie ticket from their first date was pinned on her corkboard. She ripped it down, sending the pushpin spiraling off to the other side of the room, and dropped the ticket in the trash.
She
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