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"You stay right where you are, Reaper," he hissed as he grabbed a desk in each hand, lifted them up, and carried the by myself in the middle of the floor with everyone lined up on the opposite side of the roo at lish-lit professor
The sa happened inalone, everyone glaring at rabbed a soda and a hot, grilled ham-and-swiss panini off the lunch line, and ran back to ain Alexei trailed behindup withto eat I was starting to wonder if he just existed on air, silence, and fixed stares
I clio inside when I noticed that sootten the worst of the graffiti off last night, but so and traced over the words in Reaper-red paint again
MURDERER KILLER REAPER BITCH
My stomach clenched, and tears prickedallat the door, his expression as blank as ever
"Here," Iwith the panini in it into his hand "You ht as well eat this I don’t want it anymore"
I went intoAlexei out in the hallway I stood there in the -in and out, in and out, in and out I wasn’t going to cry I was not going to cry I wasn’t going to give Helena, her friends, and everyone else that satisfaction, even if no one was around to see me break down
My emotions seesawed frory Once again, I latched on to the anger, relare, and iether like bricks around my heart to block out the pain
It took several et ready for the rest of the day The first thing I did ap out the books forclasses for the ones I’d need this afternoon It didn’t make me feel any better, but at least it kept me busy for a few minutes
Vic’s eye snapped open as I pulled hi and propped him up on my desk "Don’t worry, Gwen It’ll be okay You’ll see You’re not the first student who’s ever been falsely accused of being a Reaper Once the Protectorate clears you of all the charges, things will go back to norust that I’d seen in all my classmates’ eyes today, as well as in the faces of my professors and everyone else
I shook ain The way everyone looked atthey wanted to crush under their shoesthe absolute hate in their eyes"
Eed ed to hold back the tears "And I could feel it all, you know With ic I could feel exactly howintoelse I’ve ever felt before, even when Preston stabbed ht over ic on me, I had a thin scar on my chest froht paler Metis said that soer made wounds or left behind scars that just wouldn’t heal or fade away no ic you used on the with those, only this one was on the inside where no one could see it-except ot worse as the day went on," I continued in a dull tone "It was like the longer people looked at s will ever get back to normal I don’t even think I knohat norave me a syain He was a sword, after all, so made to do battle Vic kneell as I did that at the end of the day soht now, that soainst aze landed on the photos of my mom propped up on e, her arms around Metis’s back when they’d both been Mythos students The other was a more recent photo, one she’d had taken shortly before her death last year I grabbed that photo, sat down on my bed, and pulled the picture out of the fraes ofwith my love for her-and all the love she’d had foreyes,she’d always jokingly said, since she had the saely colored eyes that Grand her words over and over again, until all I could hear was the love and laughter in her tone, until all I could see was the light in her eyes and the soft, knowing curve of her s the the off the other students Those ies of my e better and gave th to face the rest of the day
I sat onher picture until it was tiet through the rest of the day without drawing any more attention to myself, but of courseones had Even Professor Metis’s myth-history class, which was nor
At least in that one, I didn’t have to sit by ht where it was in front ofatlooks I would have leaned forward and hugged hirier at hi up for me
Finally, sixth period ended, and I schlepped back to o see Grandma Frost, but the Protectorate had told et within ten feet of the acadeuard duty so seriously Plus, the Protectorate had probably put soates just to ht where they wanted me
Besides, Grand, and I didn’t feel like talking about it All I wanted to do was forget that today had ever happened, even though I knew I never would