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"Aria"

Aria turned and saw Hanna striding toward her with purpose Even though her auburn hair was pulled back into a sleek ponytail, her makeup looked like it had been professionally applied, and the pinstriped tunic under her blue Rosewood Day blazer was perfectly pressed, she still seemed frazzled "Hey" She sounded out of breath

"What’s up?"Aria asked

Hanna fingered the leaf-green leather satchel on her shoulder Her eyes shifted back and forth "Have you gotten any notes fromyou know?"

Aria toyed with a heht at a head shop in Philly "Not since the one teeks ago" The newscast of Tabitha’s reh Aria’s mind "Why, have you?"

The between-classes classical ht wasthat the next period was about to begin Hanna twisted her rabbed Hanna’s wrist "What did it say?"

A fresh crop of kids scao," Hanna stammered Then she scuttled down the hall and ducked into a French classroom

"Hanna!" Aria cried out

Hanna’s French classroom door slammed shut After a h, and walked into her own class before the final bell rang

Twenty er, the art history teacher, dihts and switched on the old-school slide projector, which always htly of burnt hair A dusty yellow beam flickered down the center of the classrooe of Salon at the Rue des Moulins by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec onto the white screen in front of the blackboard French prostitutes sat around a Parisian brothel, killing time

"Everyone keeps secrets, especially artists," Mrs Kittinger said in her deep, gravelly voice, which antly tailored er was a lesbian, but Aria’s allery where she worked and said she was happilyat Mr Toulouse-Lautrec’s paintings," Mrs Kittinger went on, "youto do with matters of the flesh, but in fact his problened Art history was Aria’s favorite subject, butit seriously They’d probably elected to take it because it sounded like art, which didn’t require er handed out the thick textbooks, a lot of the students stared at the pages like they ritten in Morse code

Finally, James Freed raised his hand "Was he born a woman?"

Mason Byers snickered, and Aria rolled her eyes

"Actually, that’s pretty close," Mrs Kittinger said "Toulouse-Lautrec was born with congenital defects, mostly because his parents were first cousins"

"Hot," Jarowth disease that gave hier added "Ruirl said Aria had a feeling it was Naoled next to Naomi, and Aria was pretty sure she kneho that was, too Klaudia She’d unfortunately joined the class at the end of last week

Mrs Kittinger flipped to the next slide It was a self-portrait of a red-haired artist, done with swirling brush strokes "Who’s this?"

"Vincent Van Gogh," Aria answered

"Correct," Mrs Kittinger said "Now, Mr Van Gogh see sunflowers or beautiful starry nights?"

"That’s not true," Kirsten Cullen piped up "He was severely depressed and in lots of pain And he took painkillers, which ht have altered his visual perception, which could be why his paintings are so vibrant and hypnotic"

"Very good," Mrs Kittinger said

Aria shot Kirsten a smile She was the only person besides Aria who actually tried in this class

Mrs Kittinger shut off the projector, turned the lights back on, and walked to the blackboard, her oxfords clacking loudly on the wood floor "Our next project is going to be about psychology I’ate his mental state and link it to his work The paper is due not this coroaned "But I have an indoor soccer tournaave hi in pairs"

Aria instantly turned to Kirsten, wanting to ith her Other kids silently paired up, too "Not so fast" Mrs Kittinger lifted a piece of chalk in the air "I’, not you"

She pointed to Mason Byers and matched him with Delia Hopkins, who hadn’t said a word all seirl with large boobs who’d never shaken her reputation as the class slut

Then Mrs Kittinger pointed to Aria "And Aria, you’ll report on Caravaggio And you’ll ith" She pointed at soain, dear?"

"Is Klaudia Huusko," chirruped a voice