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The first person Cassie saw at school the next roup in front of a side entrance that Cassie had been taking to be inconspicuous
Deborah, the biker, and Suzan, the pneuroup So were the two blond guys who had been roller blading through the halls yesterday And there were two other guys One was a short boy with a hesitant, slinking look and a furtive smile The second was tall, with dark hair and a handso a T-shirt with rolled-up sleeves and black jeans like Deborah’s, and he was sirls’ conversation yesterday The reptile?
Cassie flattened herself against the red brick wall and retreated as quickly and quietly as possible She went in the lish class
Aluiltily, she reached down to pat her hip pocket It was stupid to have brought it, but the little piece of chalcedony did make her feel better And of course it was ridiculous to believe that it could bring her luck - but then again, she’d gotten to school thisinto Faye, hadn’t she?
She found an empty desk in a back corner of the classroom on the opposite side from where Faye had sat yesterday She didn’t want Faye near her - or behind her Here, she was shielded by a whole cluster of people
But strangely, soon after she sat down, there was a sort of shuffling around her She looked up to see a couple of girlstoo
For a
Don’t be paranoid
Just because peopleto do with you But she couldn’t help notice that there was noide expanse of empty desks all around her
Faye breezed in, talking to a stiff Jeffrey Lovejoy Cassie got a glimpse of her and then quickly looked away
She couldn’t keep her mind on Mr Humphries’s lecture How could she think with so much space around her? It had to be only a coincidence, but it shook her just the same
At the end of class, when Cassie stood up, she felt eyes on her She turned to see Faye looking at her and s
Slowly, Faye closed one eye in a wink
Once out of the room Cassie headed for her locker As she twirled the co nearby, and with a jolt recognized the short, slinking boy who’d been with Faye that
His locker was open, and she could see several ads from what looked like Soloflex brochures taped inside the door He was grinning at her His belt buckle was silver with shiny, raved Sean
Cassie gave him the unimpressed look she reserved for little boys she baby-sat back home and pulled open her locker
And screaled cry, actually, because her throat closed up on her Dangling from the top of her locker by a piece of twine around its neck was a doll The doll’s head lolled grotesquely to one side - it had been pulled out of the socket One blue glass eye was open; the other was stuck grueso at her
The short boy was gazing at her with a strange, eager expression As if he were drinking in her horror As if it intoxicated ht to report that? Shouldn’t you go to the principal’s office?" he said His voice was high and excited
Cassie just stared at hi quickly
Then: "Yes, I arabbed the doll and jerked it and the twine ca the locker shut, she headed for the stairs
The principal’s office was on the second floor Cassie thought she’d have to wait, but to her surprise the secretary ushered her in as soon as she gave her name
"Can I help you?" The principal was tall, with an austere, forbidding face His office had a fireplace, Cassie noted distractedly, and he stood in front of it with his hands clasped behind his back
"Yes," she said Her voice was shaking And now that she’d gotten here, she wasn’t at all sure that this was a good idea "I’m new at school; my name is Cassie Blake - "
"I’m aware of who you are" His voice was clipped and brusque
"Well" Cassie faltered "I just wanted to report Yesterday, I saw this girl having a fight with another girl, and she pushed her" What was she talking about? She was babbling "And I saw it, and so she threatened me She’s in this club - but the point is, she threatenedabout it, but then today I found this init by the back of the dress with two fingers He looked at it as if she’d handed hi up in the yard His lip was curled in a way that re," he said "How apt"
Cassie had no idea what that was supposed to mean Apt meant appropriate, didn’t it? It was appropriate that so dolls in her locker?
"It was Faye Chamberlain," she said
"Oh, no doubt," he said "I’m quite aware of the proble with other students I’ve even had a report about this incident yesterday, about how you tried to push Sally Waltman down the stairs - "
Cassie stared, then blurted out, "I what ? Who told you that?"
"I believe it was Suzan Whittier"
"It isn’t true! I never - "
"Be that as it may," the principal interrupted, "I really think you’d better learn to solve these proble on - outside help"
Cassie just went on staring, speechless
"That’s all" The principal tossed the doll in the wastebasket, where it hit with a resounding plastic clunk
Cassie realized she was dis to do but turn around and walk out
She was late for her next class As she walked in the door all eyes turned to her, and for an instant she felt a flash of paranoia But at least no one got up and left when she took a desk
She atching the teacher do an example on the board when her backpackon the floor beside her, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the dark blue nylon huht she saw it When she turned to stare at it, it was still
Iination
As soon as she faced the board, it happened again
Turn and stare It was still Look at the board It hu inside it
Itwith her eyes
Very slowly and carefully, Cassie edged her foot over to the backpack She stared at the blackboard as she lifted her foot and then brought it down suddenly on the "hump"
All she felt was the flatness of her French book
She hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until it sighed out Her eyes shut in helpless relief
And then so beneath her foot writhed She felt it under her Reebok
With a piercing shriek, she leaped to her feet
"What is theat her
"There’s so inat the teacher’s arm "No, don’t - don’t reach in there"
Shaking her off, the teacher held the backpack open Then she plunged her hand inside and pulled out a long rubber snake
Rubber
"Is this supposed to be funny?" the teacher demanded
"It’s not mine," Cassie said stupidly "I didn’t put it there"
She was gazing,rubber head and the painted black rubber tongue It looked real, but it wasn’t It was unalive Dead meat?
"It did ht It "
The class atching silently Looking up, Cassie thought she saw a flash of so like pity on the teacher’s face, but the next ht, everybody Let’s get back to work," the teacher said, dropping the snake on her desk and returning to the blackboard Cassie spent the rest of the period with her eyes locked on those of the rubber snake It never lass at the cafeteria full of laughing, talking students French class had passed in a blur And the paranoia, the feeling that people were looking at her and then deliberately turning their backs, kept growing
I should go outside, she thought, but of course that was ridiculous Look where going outside had gotten her yesterday No, she would do today what she should have done then: walk up and ask soht Do it It would have been easier if she hadn’t been feeling so giddy Lack of sleep, she thought
She stopped, with her filled tray, beside two girls eating at a square table built for four They looked nice, and lad to have a junior sit with the, disembodied but polite "Can I sit here?"
They looked at each other Cassie could al Then one spoke up
"Sure but ere just leaving Help yourself" She picked up her tray and irl looked dis down at her own tray Then she followed
Cassie stood as if she’d taken root in the floor
Okay, that was too bad - you picked soht But that’s no reason to be upset
Even though their lunches were only half eaten?
With a supreme effort, she made herself walk over to another table A round one this ti six There was one seat eht Just sit She put her tray down at the eed her backpack off her shoulder, and sat She kept her eyes glued to her tray, concentrating on one piece of pepperoni in her slice of pizza She didn’t want to see permission of anyone
All around her, conversation died Then she heard the scraping of chairs
Oh my God I don’t believe this I don’t believe this is happening it’s not true