Ultraviolet by R. J. Anderson Page A

disagree with that either, unfortunately. It would have been nice to dismiss Tori as a spoiled rich girl with nothing but looks to recommend her, but she’d learned people skills at her mother’s knee, and even the bottom-feeders in the school’s popularity fishbowl found her hard to dislike. If it hadn’t been for the Noise and my loyalty to Melissa, I would probably have been charmed into liking her, too.
    “You never know,” I said, grimacing as I zipped up the new jacket my mother had just bought me for Christmas. There was nothing wrong with the fit or the color so I’d had no excuse to make her take it back, but I hated the ugly bile-yellow rasp of those metal teeth coming together. “Maybe she’ll end up going to a different high school.”
    “Yeah,” said Mel slowly, savoring the idea. “Really different. Like, on another planet.”
    And then I’d never have to hear the Noise again. “I wish.”
    “Speaking of alien life-forms, did you see Jenna’s got blonde highlights now? She wants to be Tori so bad, she’s turning into a clone.” Mel snorted. “What’s next, blue contacts?”
    “And a pink tattoo,” I said.
    “Huh?”
    “Tattoo,” I repeated. “Or whatever it is. That thing on her arm, you know.”
    Melissa’s eyes lit with unholy glee. “Tori got a
tattoo
? Are you kidding me? Where did you hear this? Whoa, her mom is going to flip when she finds out—”
    “No, I mean the same one she’s always had. How could you not notice? Looks like a sun with zigzag rays coming out of it. Kind of Aztec.”
    “Um, Ali . . . I don’t think so,” said Melissa. “I was in the same swimming class as Tori last year, remember? I’ve seen her arm about a billion times. There’s nothing on it.”
    Her words hit me like a backhanded slap. I went rigid, the blood roaring in my ears. How could I have made such a stupid mistake?
    Fortunately for me, Melissa hadn’t stopped talking yet. “She doesn’t even get zits, for crap’s sake. She’s like some kind of walking Barbie.” She frowned up at me. “When did you see this tattoo-thing on her?”
    For one sickening moment I still had no idea what to say. Then I forced my face into a smile and smacked Mel on the shoulder. “Psych! Had you going.”
    “Uh, sure,” she replied. “Ha ha. Except for the part where it wasn’t funny.”
    “I know,” I said. “I blame the floor polish.” I shoved my hands into my gloves, to hide their trembling. “Let’s get some fresh air before I lose any more brain cells.”
    Mel shuddered. “Ugh, it’s like minus thirty out there. Where’s a hot Mountie and a team of sled dogs when you need them?” She pulled her scarf up over her face, shoved the door open with her shoulder and vanished out into the snow.
    I followed more slowly, arms wrapped around my aching stomach. Mel seemed to have already forgotten my lapse, so she probably wouldn’t bring it up again. But it shook me to realize how close I’d come to betraying myself.
    I’d figured out a long time ago that I was the only one at Diefenbaker Public who could hear Tori’s Noise. I figured it was just another case of my senses doing strange things, or at least things that would seem strange to other people if they knew. But the mark on Tori’s arm was different. It didn’t come and go, or change shape or color—it was just
there
, and had been from the first day I saw her.
    So what did it mean that nobody but me could see it?
    “Ew!” burst out Cherie, startling me back to the present. She flung her just-bitten peach down onto the tray, spattering juice in all directions. “It’s rotten.”
    Kirk’s brows shot up. He looked at me.
    “What?” I asked.
    “The Force is strong with this one,” he intoned. He picked up the mangled peach and turned it over, exposing the soggy brown spot close to its core. “Seriously, the x-ray vision’s a neat trick. You’ll have to show me how you do that some time.”
    Nausea roiled inside me. I