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No one in their right otten all the cataclysmic destruction that seemed to have rippled across the world A water cyclone had wiped large chunks of the North Carolina coast off the e-scale earthquakes, tsunamis--entire cities had been destroyed Countries had been on the verge of World War III It really had seemed like the end of the world, and there had been a teeny ht all along, but then it all had stopped, simply just stopped, and since then, everyone-- the whole world--was all let’s-hold-hands-and-love-one-another Even countries that’d been fighting with one another since forever had stopped their bloodshed, and peace now prevailed and all that good stuff

It took millions of people to die to wake everyone up, but it hadn’t been theto life The world hadn’t ended It had just been Mother Nature bitch-slapping hurabbed another bangle, this one a old color, and slipped it ontois fine I’ht?"

"Yes, baby, but I just…I have a bad feeling," she whispered into the phone, and that poured the tension back into "

It was hard to drag in the next breath as I closed " was our code word for relapse--for auditory and visual hallucinations, for her slipping away froer My heart started pounding fast When I turned, Erin was sitting on her narrow bed, kicking off her shoes Concern pinched her downright gorgeous face "What kind of ‘bad feeling’ do you have?"

Mo dreaoing to…"

As she spoke, Erinheartsick By the ti to be late for Abnory if I didn’t book it, but all I wanted to do was cliranny had ?" Erin asked as she tugged her hair free Black, loose curls fell around her shoulders There wasn’t even a crimp in her hair from the ponytail

Erin was perfect

She was also a sweetie

"Yeah" I flipped my hair--my heavy hair that never held a curl, but sure as hell showed a crirabbedto call Granny after class They probably already know, but didn’t want to worryoff incredibly long, incredibly srow on her legs Seriously "Is there anything I can do?"

"Sneakover rin "I always knohere to get the good shit"

That she did It was kind of odd, since she was only twenty, like ot the endless supply of alcohol I swear she could just walk into a liquor store, flash those killer legs and beautiful s she wanted

I, on the other hand, would get laughed right out of the store

"I’ll also get us some junk food--like rocky road ice cream, dill-flavored potato chips, and--oh--those chocolate-covered pretzels" She opened the door forforward, I hugged her quickly and then pulled back, flushing as I backed away I was such a dork, it was e end of a stellar srew up outside of DC, in a big city, in a big family, surrounded by friends she’dup virtually friendless in a town that saw the kid of an unwed mother as the devil’s spawn made me truly value the friendship I had with her

Before Igled ers in a wave and hurried out of the room As I all but raced down the hall, I had to co with Mom in the corner of my mind to revisit after class I needed to pay attention today This was our last lecture before the exa the loose cardigan close aswas in the air and tiny leaves were sprouting from the branches, but the chill of winter hadn’t left the ca hall--but it was a heck of a walk to Russell Hall, where the Ab Psych class was held, and I had a feeling I’d be blown into the trees before I reached the building

The hipping down through the valley, tossing, not paying attention to the array of students hanging out at the entrance or lounging on the benches On a good day, I was easily distracted, but when I becaht, shiny object and I had the attention span of a goldfish I couldn’t afford getting lured into a conversation and inevitablyclass

I followed the path around the neatly landscaped park On nicer, ware, black oak trees The campus was truly beautiful It was one of the reasons why I’d enrolled