For Your Heart (Hill Dweller Retellings) Read Online Free PDF Page A

so fun.”
         Rising to a non-existent challenge, Celeste then says, “Not to rain on your Geek-Love fest, but Amber has a meet tonight.  Are you going to support her or go fabric shopping?”
         I ball my fist under the table.  Urg!  I hate how she does that!  If Amber wanted me to go, she should have said something.  I glance at Amber who shrugs, trying to look like she doesn’t care, but I can tell she does.  Her parents are always working late and never come to support her.  It’s up to us to cheer her on.
         Amber stares down at her lunch tray.  “It would be nice if you could all come support me, but if you’re already busy…”
         Celeste puts her hand to her chest.  “I’m going, of course.”
         I glance at Em who tips her head, indifferent.  Over time, she has learned to share me with my other friends.  “I guess we can go shopping tomorrow.”
         I let out an exhale of relief.  “I’ll be there.” 
         Turning my attention to my book, I get back to trying to study, but a moment later Amber interrupts me.  “Hey, Nett, did you notice Brandon was completely ogling you in chem?”
         I scowl at the Spanish verb tenses in front of me.  Brandon gives me the creeps.  “No, he wasn't.  He was trying to copy my lab answers.”
         “Would it kill you to think someone actually thought you were cute?”  Amber demands.  “I mean come on, Netti, just look at this gorgeous head of hair.”  She shoves both her hands into my hair and pluffs out my auburn tresses.
         I close my eyes, savoring the feeling of having my hair played with, but the bell rings, making me jump.  Amber drops my hair.  “Oops, gotta go!”  She practically runs out the doors in an effort to get to her next class which, of course, is gym.
         I go much slower, I have Spanish next.

Chapter 7
     
    Jeanette
     
         From kindergarten to graduation, students are taught the history of Carver Hall Park.  The forest and homestead were once a huge estate owned by Joseph Carver, a Catholic entrepreneur who struck it rich during the industrial revolution.  When he died, he willed his estate between the state of Connecticut and his local church.  The resulting properties became the park and Mary Magda Academy.  Carver Hall Park is as much a part of Mary Magda's identity as my father's station as principal has on my social life.
         But, just because my father is the principal and we live in the headmaster’s house – making the park my backyard – doesn’t mean I hate Carver Hall Park any less.  Especially today.
         I should have studied, then I wouldn't have bombed my test and Dad wouldn't have grounded me and driven me straight home.
         Standing at the edge of the forest behind my house and staring at the imposing black trees, I sigh.  It's early September and the plant life looks unnaturally alive.  The air is still, but the needles on the taller-than-houses evergreens quiver with anticipation of something momentous.   And the leaves on the ancient oak, maple, and beech trees sparkle quicksilver in the afternoon sunlight. 
         I swallow hard.  Carver Hall Park has always had something weird about it.  I've always felt uneasy standing close to these trees, even before Timmy's mysterious disappearance.  It always felt like I was…being watched.  As if, just out of view, something was moving in the underbrush.  And now, after he disappeared, the forest scares the hell out of me even more because it ate him alive.
         I pace, my eyes scanning the thick carpet of last year’s orange-brown needles, searching for the lost path.   At one point in time, there had been a wide, well-worn path between Mary Magda Academy and the headmaster's house, but – like everything else left untended in the park – the woods have reclaimed it.  In the seven years since I last used the path, the ferns and