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Nate came over to the house around six. Claire blew on her freshly painted nails and carefully closed the pink nail polish. Even though both she and Nate ate with my family almost every night, tonight just we kids were going out for some burgers at the local diner, giving Mom and Dad an unusual chance for some time alone. Why celebrate the first day back at school? I had no idea, but I was pretty sure that whoever came up with this tradition must have been a total nerd.

  Charley’s Diner was the most popular hangout spot for kids in our school, and to get a good table, you had to get there early. Nate dropped us off at the front so we could grab a booth before the crowd showed up. We sat on opposite sides and both reached for a menu. It was an involuntary motion, I suppose, since we always ordered the same thing: a Biggie Burger with the works—cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and bacon on a toasty grilled bun. My mouth watered at the mere thought.

  I watched the door open, expecting it to be Nate, but instead it was the oh-so-popular Amy and her cheerleading clique. After them came a couple of the guys from the football team and, to my surprise, Avan.

  My muscled stiffened.

  Amy had always made it her mission in life to go out of her way to make every kid at Brushwood who was not worthy of her friendship feel miserable. Even the popular students were harassed sometimes, and the only one truly immune to her viciousness was any attractive boy—in this case, Avan. When Amy’s little coterie found their seats, I could see that she was behaving exactly as expected. She patted the spot next to her, and Avan followed. She batted her long, dark eyelashes at him as she twirled her hair. I sank lower in my seat, raising the menu so they wouldn’t see me . . . so he wouldn’t see me.

  “What’s going on?”

  Nate had walked in, but I had been too preoccupied with hating Amy to notice. He pulled my menu to the side.

  I rolled my eyes and pulled the menu back to my face, this time right up to my nose. “Amy’s here, and she brought the new kid along,” I said, nodding toward their table. Nate closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. Claire sat with a straw in her mouth. She followed my gaze to the corner table where Amy and her crew were sitting, and gave them a look of disapproval.

  “Well, there goes another victim.” Claire sat straighter as the waitress approached with our usual chocolate milkshakes.

  “Why are you so down on him?” I said. Whatever she had against the guy was a bit of a mystery. Claire and Nate never treated anyone like an outcast—they knew what that felt like.

  “Jade, darling, think about it. He is sitting with Amy, and you know the kind of people she attracts, so. . .”

  She did have a valid point there. The only kind of people who dated Amy tended to have a pretty thin cerebral cortex. Amy’s fake laughter echoed throughout the diner every time Avan spoke. She tossed her hair to the side and moved closer to him.

  My hands balled into fists every time she touched him.

  I wanted to enjoy the evening. I really did try. I wanted not to care about her or about her being with him. But it was proving futile. Even though my eyes kept seeking him, he never once looked my way. I assumed he was too busy being cool. Now that he was in with popular crowd, it seemed that nothing else mattered. We finished our meals and sat for a while, talking about everything and nothing.

  I needed to stall our departure. I didn’t just want to get up and walk past them. Knowing Amy, she would take any chance to make a fool of me. That would be the perfect way to kill the competition she saw in Claire and me. I was hoping her group would leave before we did, but they just kept talking. What could she ever have to say this long? I got my chance to escape when Avan got up to go to the restroom. I practically pulled Claire and Nate bodily out of their chairs, and the moment Avan stepped out of sight we made our exit.

  Amy didn’t let me down, though. She piped up when she saw us walking past, but we moved too fast for her to finish a sentence. After we were a few steps out the door, she came running out with Savannah and Melissa, two of her cheerleader friends.

  “Look, girls, there go the three little freaks. Going home to make your little voodoo dolls?” She stood with her weight on one leg, and her hand on her hip.

  I usually would just let her taunt and insult me. I had spent years learning how to block her out, but seeing her with Avan had woken something in me—something that wasn’t necessarily nice. I turned and walked right up to her face.

  “What is your problem, Amy? Huh? I don’t get it. You don’t feel good enough about yourself, so you have to put everyone else down? Why don’t you find a better way of living your life, and leave us out of your misery.”

  Her friends dropped their jaws in disbelief. She tried to hide her shock, but it was too late. She scowled at me a little longer and added, “Don’t even think for a second you are invited to my party this Friday, freak.” With a flip of her hair, she strutted back into the diner.

  “Ooh-h-h-h!” I grunted the moment the door closed behind her. I kicked the ground. “I cannot stand her! Who does she think she is?” I wasn’t talking to anyone in particular—just hoping that one day I would be able to understand. Claire looped her arm through mine and pulled me forward.

  Nate had parked a couple blocks away from the diner, and as we hurried along the dark streets of downtown, I saw something move from the corner of my eye. I peered at it. The person or animal was crawling strangely on the sidewalk across the street. It seemed as though someone had a bit too much to drink or had fallen.

  Nate and Claire were on that side of me, making a clear view impossible. I slowed down to get a better look. At first it was too dark. The nearest streetlight to where the person was slouching had been shattered—I could still see the glinting glass shards on the ground. I couldn’t make out what the figure was doing, but as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see it crawl across the sidewalk, into an alley, and (unless I really was going insane) up onto the side of the building. I stopped, frozen.

  “What is that?” I said, louder than necessary. My voice carried on the empty street.

  Both Claire and Nate turned and glanced across the street. At that moment, the person or animal climbed down off the wall and began making its way over to us on all fours. It approached with fast, jerking motions. Its head was cocked sideways, and its face was covered in a dark, shiny liquid. It couldn’t be sweat. It looked more like blood.

  Claire searched for my hand and pulled me forward. “Run!” she cried, and our feet pounded the gravel as we made our way toward the car. She dipped her hand into the pocket of her jacket and fumbled with the keys. Once, twice, she tried to unlock it, and nothing happened.

  I looked back. Nate was falling behind. “Come on, Nate! Run!” I yelled. The thing was still coming at us on all fours, its head cocked to one side and then the other in what looked like painful motions. I could hear a gurgling sound in its chest as it closed in on us.

  The car lights blinked twice as it unlocked. Claire swung the back door open and shoved me into the seat, then got into the front passenger seat. My heart thudded like a jackhammer. My hand hovered over the lock button, ready to slam it down the second Nate got in. I looked out the back window, just as Nate trotted up and got into the car. He turned to face Claire and then me with a smile.

  “The man was just lost,” he said as he started the engine. “I guided him to where he needed to go.”

  “Th— that was no man!” I gasped. “I . . . uh, don’t know what it was, but . . . uh, but it was ugly and creepy, and definitely not a man!” I was still trying to catch my breath, and yelling wasn’t helping.

  “Oh, Jade, you watch way too many scary movies,” Claire joked.

  If it was a man that was lost, then why had she taken off running with me? I saw that thing, and it was not human. I kept playing the image in my mind, its body hairless and darkened as if it had been burned, and the way its neck was bent. I shivered.

  “Seriously, Jade, it was nothing,” Nate said as he pressed on the gas and moved the car
out onto the street. “Your imagination just created something that wasn’t there.”

  I took one more look back, but there was nothing there—just the dark, empty street. I sank lower on my seat and closed my eyes, trying to get the image of the creature out of my head.

  4. solid veil