happened?”
Beth hadn’t told her. Well, good. If Beth hadn’t, Alex certainly wasn’t going to. “I’m not sure what happened, Cath. Anyway, I’m fine now.”
“Alex, I really am sorry.”
“It’s okay, Cath. Thanks.”
When Alex had hung up, she sat down on her bed and thought about that observation deck outside the booth.
The radio station wasn’t the only thing on the eighteenth floor. There were other offices up there. And that deck went all the way around the building. The offices flanking the radio station must have been empty when she was being torn from the booth and bounced around the deck. Or someone in one of those offices would have heard her scream.
She had screamed, hadn’t she? She couldn’t remember. Maybe not. Maybe all anyone would have heard was that eerily whistling wind.
Shoving all thoughts of her terror from her mind, Alex got dressed and went to class.
That Saturday provided perfect weather for the football game: brisk, but not really cold, sunny with a clear, blue sky, and only the faintest of breezes.
The stadium was nearly full when Alex, Jenny, and Kiki arrived. Jenny had surprised Alex by putting on makeup, something she’d never done before, and curling her hair before leaving their room. Alex had to admit the effect was stunning. The hair that had always hung, straight, around her shoulders, was now a thick froth of curls that Jenny seemed to take delight in swinging and shaking, the way a woman with a new diamond ring waves her hand about frequently. In place of her customary jeans and sweatshirt, Jenny had dressed in a pair of Julie’s black leather pants and a thick peach-colored sweater.
“I’m just trying to cheer myself up,” Jenny said when she saw Alex’s mouth hanging open in shock. “Wearing Jules’s clothes makes me feel closer to her. And besides, she won’t mind if I wear them.”
Because Alex knew that was true, she said only, “You look really pretty.”
Jenny flushed with pleasure. And fastened a pair of Julie’s black onyx earrings in her earlobes.
They sat four rows up in the bleachers, directly behind the team bench, at Jenny’s insistence. “I want the guys to know we’re here, whether they get to play or not.”
Alex couldn’t argue with that.
She wasn’t that wild about the game itself. Too violent. She liked tennis and swimming and basketball, but football broke too many bones. What she did like about football was the atmosphere. Sitting in the stands, even when it was very, very cold and maybe even snowing, friends all around her, all of them there to cheer on their team. Drinking hot chocolate or cider, munching on hot dogs and chips, screaming at the top of her lungs, those were the things that brought her to the stadium. And if she held her breath during a particularly rough play, hoping like mad that no one would break an arm or a leg, she kept that fear to herself.
Milo Keith, Ian Banion, and Jessica Vogt, some other Nightingale Hall residents, were sitting right behind her. Milo was quiet, but he had a wicked sense of humor. Alex sat in front of him in English class, and occasionally laughed aloud at some of the remarks he made about their teacher, Professor Landis.
“I heard Bennett Stark might play today,” he said now.
“No way,” Ian replied. “I’d heard he might be playing, too, but I saw him before the game and he said he wasn’t ready yet. Seemed okay about it, though.”
Gabe, of course, wasn’t playing, either. But he was sitting on the bench with the team, his crutches propped up beside him.
At halftime, Alex was about to join the long line at the restroom when a voice over the loudspeaker announced, “Telephone for Alexandria Edgar. Telephone for Alexandria Edgar.”
Her first thought was Julie . Something’s happened to Julie. She’s worse…
She would have run to the nearest phone, but running was impossible in the throng making its way up the stadium steps. She pushed, crying out, “Excuse
Beth hadn’t told her. Well, good. If Beth hadn’t, Alex certainly wasn’t going to. “I’m not sure what happened, Cath. Anyway, I’m fine now.”
“Alex, I really am sorry.”
“It’s okay, Cath. Thanks.”
When Alex had hung up, she sat down on her bed and thought about that observation deck outside the booth.
The radio station wasn’t the only thing on the eighteenth floor. There were other offices up there. And that deck went all the way around the building. The offices flanking the radio station must have been empty when she was being torn from the booth and bounced around the deck. Or someone in one of those offices would have heard her scream.
She had screamed, hadn’t she? She couldn’t remember. Maybe not. Maybe all anyone would have heard was that eerily whistling wind.
Shoving all thoughts of her terror from her mind, Alex got dressed and went to class.
That Saturday provided perfect weather for the football game: brisk, but not really cold, sunny with a clear, blue sky, and only the faintest of breezes.
The stadium was nearly full when Alex, Jenny, and Kiki arrived. Jenny had surprised Alex by putting on makeup, something she’d never done before, and curling her hair before leaving their room. Alex had to admit the effect was stunning. The hair that had always hung, straight, around her shoulders, was now a thick froth of curls that Jenny seemed to take delight in swinging and shaking, the way a woman with a new diamond ring waves her hand about frequently. In place of her customary jeans and sweatshirt, Jenny had dressed in a pair of Julie’s black leather pants and a thick peach-colored sweater.
“I’m just trying to cheer myself up,” Jenny said when she saw Alex’s mouth hanging open in shock. “Wearing Jules’s clothes makes me feel closer to her. And besides, she won’t mind if I wear them.”
Because Alex knew that was true, she said only, “You look really pretty.”
Jenny flushed with pleasure. And fastened a pair of Julie’s black onyx earrings in her earlobes.
They sat four rows up in the bleachers, directly behind the team bench, at Jenny’s insistence. “I want the guys to know we’re here, whether they get to play or not.”
Alex couldn’t argue with that.
She wasn’t that wild about the game itself. Too violent. She liked tennis and swimming and basketball, but football broke too many bones. What she did like about football was the atmosphere. Sitting in the stands, even when it was very, very cold and maybe even snowing, friends all around her, all of them there to cheer on their team. Drinking hot chocolate or cider, munching on hot dogs and chips, screaming at the top of her lungs, those were the things that brought her to the stadium. And if she held her breath during a particularly rough play, hoping like mad that no one would break an arm or a leg, she kept that fear to herself.
Milo Keith, Ian Banion, and Jessica Vogt, some other Nightingale Hall residents, were sitting right behind her. Milo was quiet, but he had a wicked sense of humor. Alex sat in front of him in English class, and occasionally laughed aloud at some of the remarks he made about their teacher, Professor Landis.
“I heard Bennett Stark might play today,” he said now.
“No way,” Ian replied. “I’d heard he might be playing, too, but I saw him before the game and he said he wasn’t ready yet. Seemed okay about it, though.”
Gabe, of course, wasn’t playing, either. But he was sitting on the bench with the team, his crutches propped up beside him.
At halftime, Alex was about to join the long line at the restroom when a voice over the loudspeaker announced, “Telephone for Alexandria Edgar. Telephone for Alexandria Edgar.”
Her first thought was Julie . Something’s happened to Julie. She’s worse…
She would have run to the nearest phone, but running was impossible in the throng making its way up the stadium steps. She pushed, crying out, “Excuse
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