Death of the Mad Hatter Read Online Free PDF Page A

Courtney’s fingers were turning white from holding her books so tight.
    I rubbed the back of my neck and stole another glance at Alice Mae. More unbelievable than the unlocking locks business was what I saw next. She was chatting with Becky, Courtney’s best bud and co-captain of the cheer squad. Becky was the Asian version of Courtney: fit, pretty, and smart, and had just a little too much sass.
    What could those two possibly have in common?
    Courtney cleared her throat . “So do you want to come over to my place on Saturday and watch a movie or not?”
    “I have other plans this weekend.”
    “With Alice Mae?”
    I laughed, “Not in the foreseeable future.”
    Becky and Alice Mae parted ways. What had they been talking about? Becky was head cheerleader and Alice Mae… well, I couldn’t picture her with pom-poms.
    Courtney asked, “Then why are you still looking at her?”
    I snapped my attention back to the redhead. “I’m not.” Obvious lie, but what was I supposed to say?
    Courtney didn’t look convince d either. “I’ll be right there, Becky. Ryley was just blowing me off.”
    I pulled out my phone and recorded a voice message to Courtney. “I swear that I am not interested in Alice Mae. She is a pathetic attempt for a girl—for a human being. You’re the one I want, Courtney. So how about I take you out another weekend? We could check out Aftershock.” I hit the send button. Her phone buzzed a second later.
    “You can say what you want, but that freak still turns your brain into mush,” Courtney said wounded.
    I knew I was being a simpleton , but I couldn’t pinpoint the reason why she was so miffed. “Ummm, I’m sorry? You think you have competition with her? You’re the hottest thing in this building!”
    “For someone who is supposed to be a genius, you can be very dense.” She snapped her fingers in front of me and then made a face. “You suggest hitting up a club after I asked you to hang out with me without parentals ?”
    No parental supervision?
    It just registered that Courtney had asked me to come over to her house—alone. What was I thinking? Why was I acting so stupid? I opened my mouth, hoping that sounds would come out in a coherent sentence. Instead, I made an unmanly sound that I’d rather soon forget.

 
     
     
     
    C HAPTER F OUR
    ( Alice Mae: The First visit to Wonderland)
    “A world where the impossibilities of our most far-fetched dreams come true—that was the essence of Wonderland.”  
    M.H, my mentor but more commonly known as the Mad Hatter, had said those very words during my first visit to the wondrous world of Wonderland, nearly eleven years ago. What he should have said was: Wonderland was a magical world where the most far-fetched dreams come true. Alas, it is also where intoxicating nightmares run rampant.
    The best times of my life happened in Wonderland, and also the worst. But, I was getting ahead of myself. It all started with a rabbit, a sly rumperbabbit to be exact…
    … A pesky white bunny had been munching on my best carrots, which I appreciated as much as being hit over the head with a swab of used toilet paper. Thus, it was the reason for the garden pursuit. I tracked down that rabbit, following it into a hole next to my aunt’s apple tree.
    My first fall down the rabbit hole—a po rthole to Wonderland—was a painstaking one. It wasn’t so much because the drop felt like a free-fall from a five story building, or that I had been so sure I would be a splat in the center of the Earth, but because I kept reaching out with my arms in an effort to slow my descent. The rock walls scraped my skin and bruised my bones. The dirt embedded under my nails. I crashed to the bottom of the hole, but I hadn’t died, so I called it a win.
    None of this dirtiness would have happened if I hadn’t chased a rather uncatchable rabbit in the first place . My parents had sent me to live with my overly stern aunts because of unruly behavior that was unbecoming