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Chapter 1 Bat Out of Hell

I flew from class like a bat out of hell

Dullsville High`s bell rang its final year-end ring and I was the first student to arrive at rated onon a syca was as : summer vacation

The tords rolled offhoneysuckles Aren`t all vacations sweet? Given However, su and winter break Sumes--two and a half months of freedom from textbooks, teachers, and torment No detentions, lectures, or pop quizzes No ht-hour day in the confines of Dullsville High, being the only goth in the preppy-filled school, or trying to lift an overslept pre- caffeinated head off my wooden desk And most important, I could sleep in late Just like a vampire

My red and white school-colored handcuffs had been slipped off my wrists

I was so pumped I even beat model student and my best friend, Becky, to her locker It was the last tiet, as I often did, the lock`s random coordinates Unreturned textbooks, notebooks, candy wrappers, and CDs filled the tiny metal closet Forever the procrastinator, I waited until the final moment to clean it out Unlike other lockers that had actual photographs of couples, staring back at me were oil-based pictures of me and Alexander that he`d painted and surprised ly and carefully untacked one when I becaured I needed a wheelbarrow to haul the load to Becky`s truck but instead dragged out a dented garbage can and tossed out anything that I hadn`t paid for

Su up to me We clasped hands and shrieked like we had just won tickets to a sold-out concert

It`s finally here! I exclaimed No more tardy slips or calls to my parents about dress codes

Becky opened her locker, which had already been cleaned out Photos of her and Matt presumably had been placed in a scrapbook with colorful captions, beautiful borders, and funky heart-shaped stickers She exaotten

It looks like you even dusted it, I teased

This is going to be the best summer ever, Raven This is the first su poolside with the hottest guys in Dullsville

I spotted a painting of Alexander andon the inside of my locker door The stars twinkled above us and ere lit by the glow of the moon

Well, one of us will be, I said And I wasn`t referring to the fact that my boyfriend wouldn`t be able to worship the sun

I had a bigger problem--he wasn`t even in Dullsville