All the Days of Her Life Read Online Free PDF Page B

tightly that the tip of the needle jabbed her palm, making her wince. She felt blood trickle from the prick.
    “I asked you a question?” Monet said, moving closer. “I mean, I’m not judging you if you are using. If that’s your bag, your secret’s safe with me. Just like I know my secret’s safe with you.”
    “I don’t do drugs,” Lacey said, forming the words with precision.
    “Then why the needle?”
    For a moment, Lacey’s mind went blank and panic rose in a wave. She couldn’t tell Monet the truth. Not Monet. “I have allergies,” she said, amazed at how easily the lie came to her. “I take shots to build up my resistance.”
    Monet looked disappointed in the explanation. “Well, maybe I believe you and maybe I don’t.”
    “I don’t care what you believe.” Lacey slipped the syringe into her purse and went to the sink, where she rinsed off the line of blood made by the needle’s tip.
    “But you’re still going to keep your mouth shut about me, aren’t you? People will believe what I tell them about you. And if I say you’re doing drugs …” Monet allowed the sentence to trail, implicit with innuendo.
    “I told you I wouldn’t say anything to anybody about your dinner-purging routine. I keep my word.” She made eye contact in the mirror with Monet to emphasize her point.
    “See that you do,” Monet said, and swished out of the bathroom.
    Lacey let the water run on her hands and watched them tremble.
Too close a call
, she told herself. All she needed was Monet spreading stories about her. Lacey sighed and stared absently into the mirror. She saw dark circles under her eyes. When had they cropped up? She
was
feeling tired. And hungry too. She dried her hands and on her way back to join Terri, she stopped at a vending machine and bought a package of peanut butter crackers and a diet cola.
    Lacey worked alongside Terri until Ms. Kasch sent everybody home for the night. Exhausted, Lacey went to her car. Todd pulled alongside and asked, “Got a minute?”
    She nodded, wishing she didn’t feel so dragged out. He invited her into his sports car. “Where’syour bird dog?” She climbed into the contoured front seat, the chilly February air reviving her.
    “Monet had to leave earlier. Something about meeting her agent for breakfast in the morning. Besides, she’s not my keeper, you know.”
    “Could have fooled me.” Lacey watched Todd’s face in the light of the mercury lamps of the parking lot.
    “I choose who I want to see,” he said. “And right now I want to see you.”
    Her heart tripped a beat, but she decided to play it cool. “So you’re seeing me. Is it a thrill?”
    He laughed outright. “It’s a thrill.” He reached over and toyed with a tendril of her blond hair. “Your hair feels like silk.”
    Her mouth went dry and she ran out of clever things to say. “Todd, what do you want?”
    “I was thinking I’d like to take you out sometime. Would you say yes?”
    “Ask me and see.”
    “How about Saturday night? There’s a party at a house on South Beach. It should be a real blow-out.”
    She would have preferred a simple movie date, a quiet evening of one on one. “I’ll go with you.”
    He grinned. “I’ll pick you up at nine.”
    They talked over a few more plans, then she got out of his car and into her own. Once he’d driven away, Lacey sat and stared out over the metallic hood of her car feeling … hollow. Somehow, she’d always thought that having Todd ask her outwould be a red-letter moment, but now that it had happened, she felt deflated and let down.
    Lacey wished she felt better physically because that would make her feel better emotionally. “You’re just wiped out,” she said aloud. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to go to the bathroom hit her. Quickly, she shoved the car into gear and headed out of the parking lot, hoping that she could hold it until she got home.
    “You looked pale and tired, Lacey. Maybe going to this party tonight