would you go to get it?
The time stamp was 4:21 AM.
The thought of a man lying awake in the middle of night thinking about her, and what she desired, made her feel sick — sick, and a little thrilled in an odd, frightening way.
Leave me alone , she wrote. Why do you keep bothering me?
The response was instantaneous.
Because you fascinate me.
What a freaky thing to say. I fascinate you?
Among other things.
Val hesitated. What other things?
A gentleman never tells.
Why are you doing this, then, you freak?
He didn't respond. Val heaved a sigh of relief as she began responding to other notifications from people she actually wanted to talk to. People who weren't freaks. She submitted a comment to one of her friends from track about the next meet, and when the screen refreshed there was another message notification waiting for her.
Because of how beautiful you are when you run — and how much it makes me want to chase you. The red flag flashed up again. You never answered my question, by the way.
His question? She scrolled back through the conversation, confused, until she hit upon the very first thing he'd sent her. What did she desire, and how far would she go to get it?
She hit the block button and turned away from her laptop.
Right now, her only desire was that her big, stupid life start making a little more sense.
Chapter Five
“ One of the most difficult parts of drawing from life is that you are converting a living, breathing creature into a nonliving, non-breathing format.” As she talked, Ms. Wilcox went around the room and gave each pair of desks a wooden figure. “These are nonliving, non-breathing compatible, but I want you to pretend, for the moment, that they are alive, and draw them in both static — and dynamic — poses.”
Val picked up the doll, adjusting the limbs so that it looked as if it were running. Several of the other students were taking far more explicit liberties with the dolls, James in particular, who shoved the doll's hand between its legs and made noises that had his seatmates in fits.
Gavin, by contrast, was quietly studying the doll he was sharing with a girl whose name Val didn't know. He had folded its limbs into a pose of supplication, the hands thrown skywards. The girl clearly didn't like it, though whether this was because she, like Val, thought it sinister, resented him taking control of the doll, or was just having trouble with the limbs wasn't clear.
Mrs. Vasquez was showing Titus in English so after checking in with the teacher and getting marked as “present” on the roster, Val was sent to the library for one-day study hall. She hadn't been to the school library since the beginning of the year, and the smell of old books was overwhelming. “Hi, Ms. Banner,” she said tentatively to the librarian, “I'm here for — ”
Ms. Banner shushed her, with a look of annoyance, and thrust a stapled bunch of papers at her without bothering to explain them. Val glanced down at the papers with a look of wariness. Library Rules the first one was called, with “No Talking” underlined several times. The other three comprised her essay assignment.
Emily Abernathy was already there, seated at one of the far tables with a copy of Wuthering Heights in front of her. Her blonde hair was secured back with a barrette and she was wearing one of those dress and turtleneck sets that Val hadn't really seen in person since 1997. She half-wanted to peek under the table and see if she was wearing matched printed leggings.
“ Hey.” Emily looked up, fixing her with a shy smile that made Val feel bad about her uncharitable thought. “You're not watching the movie, either?”
“ I guess not.” She looked at Wuthering Heights . “Is that for this class? I thought we weren't reading that for another week or two.”
“ I'm using it in my essay,” Emily said. “I'm doing my topic on revenge and betrayal within families and how the disrupting of that critical foundation of the
The time stamp was 4:21 AM.
The thought of a man lying awake in the middle of night thinking about her, and what she desired, made her feel sick — sick, and a little thrilled in an odd, frightening way.
Leave me alone , she wrote. Why do you keep bothering me?
The response was instantaneous.
Because you fascinate me.
What a freaky thing to say. I fascinate you?
Among other things.
Val hesitated. What other things?
A gentleman never tells.
Why are you doing this, then, you freak?
He didn't respond. Val heaved a sigh of relief as she began responding to other notifications from people she actually wanted to talk to. People who weren't freaks. She submitted a comment to one of her friends from track about the next meet, and when the screen refreshed there was another message notification waiting for her.
Because of how beautiful you are when you run — and how much it makes me want to chase you. The red flag flashed up again. You never answered my question, by the way.
His question? She scrolled back through the conversation, confused, until she hit upon the very first thing he'd sent her. What did she desire, and how far would she go to get it?
She hit the block button and turned away from her laptop.
Right now, her only desire was that her big, stupid life start making a little more sense.
Chapter Five
“ One of the most difficult parts of drawing from life is that you are converting a living, breathing creature into a nonliving, non-breathing format.” As she talked, Ms. Wilcox went around the room and gave each pair of desks a wooden figure. “These are nonliving, non-breathing compatible, but I want you to pretend, for the moment, that they are alive, and draw them in both static — and dynamic — poses.”
Val picked up the doll, adjusting the limbs so that it looked as if it were running. Several of the other students were taking far more explicit liberties with the dolls, James in particular, who shoved the doll's hand between its legs and made noises that had his seatmates in fits.
Gavin, by contrast, was quietly studying the doll he was sharing with a girl whose name Val didn't know. He had folded its limbs into a pose of supplication, the hands thrown skywards. The girl clearly didn't like it, though whether this was because she, like Val, thought it sinister, resented him taking control of the doll, or was just having trouble with the limbs wasn't clear.
Mrs. Vasquez was showing Titus in English so after checking in with the teacher and getting marked as “present” on the roster, Val was sent to the library for one-day study hall. She hadn't been to the school library since the beginning of the year, and the smell of old books was overwhelming. “Hi, Ms. Banner,” she said tentatively to the librarian, “I'm here for — ”
Ms. Banner shushed her, with a look of annoyance, and thrust a stapled bunch of papers at her without bothering to explain them. Val glanced down at the papers with a look of wariness. Library Rules the first one was called, with “No Talking” underlined several times. The other three comprised her essay assignment.
Emily Abernathy was already there, seated at one of the far tables with a copy of Wuthering Heights in front of her. Her blonde hair was secured back with a barrette and she was wearing one of those dress and turtleneck sets that Val hadn't really seen in person since 1997. She half-wanted to peek under the table and see if she was wearing matched printed leggings.
“ Hey.” Emily looked up, fixing her with a shy smile that made Val feel bad about her uncharitable thought. “You're not watching the movie, either?”
“ I guess not.” She looked at Wuthering Heights . “Is that for this class? I thought we weren't reading that for another week or two.”
“ I'm using it in my essay,” Emily said. “I'm doing my topic on revenge and betrayal within families and how the disrupting of that critical foundation of the
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