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I thought back to Katie and the hope and certainty I’d felt about her About the horrendous disaster that had become A knot of fear crept into my throat I hoped I wasn’t about to repeat the past

Chapter 14

The insistent beep ofso I could get to the school gy Nobody ever called that line but telenored it until I saw the caller ID I snatched the handset off the cradle

"Yes?" I said, trying to et you on your cell so I called the backup nuave me"

"Mhmm"

"I’ve decided not to pursue this any further Ever since that Conroy felloed up at our offices and warned us off the investigation, weird shit has been going down Thousands of rats swaro Yesterday every car in the parking lot turned upside down--on their freaking roofs Oh, and that’s not even the best part Today, my wife’s stupid little Chihuahua calish--I had one "

"He talked to you?" I gasped, trying to keep my voice pitched low despite the crazy stuff this dude was telling me

"My secretary toldFrankly, I’ out myself I don’t care if you believe me or not I’m done I’ll refund half your fee And by the way, I think they have so wooden staff ca about you You’d better watch your back"

The line went dead I stared at the phone for a moment Dad hadto find the talk? Before my transformation, I’d never have believed such a crazy story Noasn’t so sure

I glanced at the tiet to school

Elyssa had saved me a seat on the bleachers next to her I pecked her on the cheek and took her hand in ht, because I wasn’t sure how to say "Seize the hand" in Latin I was deter timid

Ash and Nyte showed up Neither looked the least bit surprised at the sight of lared up the bleachers at Nathan and his diroup of bespectacled nerds reading a Kings and Castles rule book "I wish I was bigger and stronger I’d punch those goons until their noses broke"

I knew the feeling Unfortunately, raer hadn’t helped me one bit in my quest to overco ran up the chain of co isn’t the answer," Elyssa said, her eyes darting to od attitude in this place"

"But they’ve stolen our dignity," Ash said "They’ve taken our very identities"

Elyssa sighed "This is high school, not real life Thesefish, but they’re swi in a srinned "Exactly Anyway, once we’re out of here, you’ll never have to worry about theirls preggers and drink themselves into obesity by the time they’re thirty Those prissy cheerleaders will lose their looks after whoring around and doing drugs in college and will end up living with rednecks in trailer parks"

"Do you have a crystal ball?" I asked "This is aht" Elyssa raised an eyebrow in disdain "I knohat I’ about The circle of life you’ve heard about just keeps on repeating itself in high school after high school across the nation"

"What you’re forgetting is we’ll have a whole new set of douchebags to deal with in corporate America," Ash said

Nyte shook his head fiercely "I will never work for the onna be a rapper?" Elyssa asked "’Cause they’re the only ones allowed to use that terer rapper," I said with a laugh

"I’ll be Carrot Ice" Nyte flashed a contrived gang sign

We groaned

The bell rang, so we stood to leave Ash scooted first into the strea down the bleacher steps since he was closest to the end Nathan barreled down the steps behind him and plowed into his back Ash jerked like a car had struck hi stairs while his books and papers scattered onto the basketball court

"Watch that last step," Nathan said "It’s a doozy" The two thugs, who I’d learned were na in the world and kicked the books further onto the hardwood court as they walked past hiht it hurt I winced, but she didn’t notice, instead focusing a stare of pure hatred on Nathan I touched her hand "Loosen up a little?" I gasped<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>