Born at Midnight Read Online Free PDF Page A

she could really see his eyes, and she realized she’d been wrong. These weren’t Trey’s eyes. This guy had flecks of gold around his pupils.
    “About what?” she asked, trying not to stare.
    “You, they’re curious about you. Maybe if you opened up a little…”
    “Open up?” Okay, that annoyed her. She’d been giving him the benefit of the doubt about being the normal one, but not if he was going to start acting as if she was being the unfriendly one. “The only ones who spoke to me were the blond guy and Miranda, and the other one, and I talked to all of them.”
    He quirked the other eyebrow at her. And for some reason that pushed her button. “Do you have a nervous twitch or something?” she asked, and then bit her tongue. Maybe she was overcoming the too-nice disease. Sara would be proud. Her mom … well, not so much.
    Her mom.
    Just like that, the image of her mom standing there in that parking lot filled Kylie’s mind.
    “You don’t know … do you?” the boy asked, and his eyes widened, his gold flecks seemed to sparkle.
    “Know what?” she asked, but her mind seemed stuck on her mom. On the fact that she hadn’t even hugged her good-bye. Why had Mom done this to her? Why had her parents decided to split? Why did any of this have to happen? The familiar knot, the need-to-cry knot, formed in her throat.
    He looked over at the door and when Kylie followed his gaze, Miranda and Pale Girl were still there. Had all three of them gone to the camp before and they were like buddies and she was the new kid on the block? The new kid they’d decided to pick on?
    The lady behind the counter spoke up. “Hey, you wanna pay for that gum?”
    Kylie looked back at the cashier. She dropped a couple of bucks on the counter and left without getting her change. She brushed past Miranda and the other girl with her chin held high and without blinking. She dared not blink for fear the flutter of her eyelashes would bring on tears.
    Not that their snotty attitudes made her want to cry. It was her mom, her dad, Nana, Trey, Soldier Dude, and now even her concern for Sara. Kylie couldn’t care less if these weirdoes liked her or not.

Chapter Five
    An hour later, the bus pulled into a parking lot. Kylie had seen the Shadow Falls Camp sign posted in front. A wiggle of fear stirred in her stomach. She shifted her gaze around, almost surprised the place didn’t have a high fence and a locked gate. They were, after all, considered to be “troubled” teens.
    Kylie heard the bus engine rumble to a stop. The bus driver jumped down from the seat and stretched her little chubby arms up over her head. Kylie still didn’t know how she reached the gas pedals.
    “We’re the last bus to arrive, guys,” she said. “Everyone is waiting in the mess hall. Leave your things in the bus and someone will bring them to your cabins later.”
    Kylie looked at her suitcase. She hadn’t put a tag on it. How would they know it was her suitcase? Easy—they wouldn’t. Great, she could take the luggage with her and risk getting in trouble for not following the rules, or leave it and risk losing all her clothes.
    She was not going to lose her clothes. She reached for her suitcase. “They’ll bring it to you,” Miranda said.
    “It doesn’t have my name on it,” Kylie replied, trying to keep the sharpness from her tone.
    “They’ll figure it out. I promise,” she said as if trying to be nice.
    But was Kylie going to believe her? No.
    Suddenly, the green-eyed Trey lookalike moved into the aisle. “Believe her,” he said.
    Kylie looked at him. While she didn’t trust Miranda, there was something about this guy she believed. While standing there, he reached in his pocket and pulled out some money and dropped it in her hands.
    “Excuse me,” Goth Girl, said, and pushed past Miranda.
    Kylie stared at the dollar and few coins.
    “It’s your change from the store.” He motioned for her to step into the aisle.
    She dropped the