If I wasn’t sitting down already, I would have fallen on the floor. The site had two hundred and twenty-three hits and forty-eight comments. My stomach does a flip-flop. What? My heart hammers. I should be happy, but instead I feel like I’ve been buried by an avalanche. What have I started? What ...
He strolls over to a tree and unzips his pants. This is my chance, I realize. I’ve got to put him out of commission so that I’ve only got Warren left to deal with. Adrenaline surges through my body. I look wildly around. There’s nothing under the stairs I can use as a weapon. No stick. No large r...
Cody follows a few minutes later. I’ve parked just off the shoulder, like everyone else. I lean against Cody’s car, and we watch a few races. Mark and Mike. Bibs and some new guy, Doran. The guys are always careful to make sure the road is clear before they take off. From the starting line, you c...
Plenty of time to get out. I look ahead to make sure there aren’t any other sweepers waiting to grab me in their woody embrace. Nope, the water ahead is clear. I angle toward the near shore, toward the reserve, kicking my freezing legs. I paddle with arms that feel like they’re made of lead. I’m ...
A padlock hangs from the ring on the door. Low-grade anger simmers in my gut as my cold fingers fumble with the keys. Mr. Harrison handed them to me with a little sneer when I reported to the office after school today. “Let’s see if you’re as good at cleaning as you are at messing with private pr...
I remember falling. My head hurts. It’s resting in someone’s lap. I hear sirens. No. Not sirens. Screaming. No, that’s not screaming. It’s singing. It’s Renata. She’s singing at the top of her lungs. “Bad Romance.” In a really bad voice. She pauses after every verse to take a drag off her cigaret...