Gray Skies Read Online Free PDF Page B

her skin, touching her, squeezing, and pushing where his hands should never have been? This last thought fed the burning vileness, and for a moment, she thought that she might just vomit right there on his chair. Deep down, she wanted to. She wanted to throw up her morning soy crackers and goat milk, making a puddle of her own pool of foulness for him to sit in.
    But what scared her—what doused the anger and the disgust, and woke her in the middle of the night, as emotions riddled her body in sweat, and caused a chill to run across her skin—was the last exchange of words she’d had with Harold.
    “You will be mine,” he’d told her at the end of the school day. “Your time to choose someone is coming up.” He’d lifted his piggy nose, sniffing at the air around her. “I know you’re ready; I can smell it,” he’d said, and then snorted a piggy laugh. “Nobody will have you, but me. You’re going to choose me.” Sammi felt revolted, and when she’d scoffed at him, his lips thinned into a menacing sneer. Before she could get away, he’d reached across from where he sat, gripping her arm, pulling her closer to him. Sammi’s body lurched downward, hard and violent. She’d let out a soft cry that was loud enough to turn a few heads in their direction. But the fear that Harold held over the class turned their faces away, as he’d challenged them with a firm look.
    “You will be mine. You will carry my babies, and nobody else’s. And if you choose someone else, someone like Declan, I’ll hurt him. I’ll hurt him bad. And I might just want to hurt you, too.” When Harold let go of her arm, springing her free, he’d laughed an evil sound that had stayed with Sammi for days after.
    As Sammi watched Andie and Declan, she felt the place on her arm where the bruises were still raised and sore. “Ugly boy,” she mumbled, wanting to dismiss his threat, as just his bullying ways. But she was afraid of him.
    “Very good, Andie,” Ms. Gilly answered. “It seems that Harold and his two friends have decided on some extracurricular activities this morning, and won’t be joining us,” she continued. Sammi thought she saw a hint of relief on Ms. Gilly’s face, and maybe heard a little lift in her voice. Harold and his two bully friends wouldn’t be missed. While they didn’t bully Ms. Gilly, they certainly gave her a rough time. They gave everybody a rough time.
    Declan stepped forward. “Andie, would you please show us what the world used to look like?”
    “Do you mean Earth? Our Earth? Or do you mean another Earth?” Andie hooted and beeped as his head bounced up and down. The younger kids ate it up.
    “Yes, our Earth,” Declan answered, playfully nudging Andie. A metallic thwack echoed through the room, and all eyes peered forward when the crown of Andie’s globular head began to open. When the opening grew large enough, Andie revealed to the classroom a glassy dark orb.
    “It’s Andie’s brains!” One of the children screeched. Sammi let out a breathy laugh. She knew it wasn’t Andie’s brains, but she held her words. She enjoyed watching the children and their reactions to Andie, but more so, she enjoyed Andie.
    The glassy orb lifted up and above Andie’s head, pointing at the ceiling, and the skylights. Then there was silence, except for the low hum that was emanating from somewhere inside Andie. Almost unnoticeable at first, a tiny flicker of light appeared from inside the orb. A few of the children flinched at the lively sight. They settled a moment later when the intensity of the light increased. Through the anticipating chatter of young voices, a low hum crossed the room, and Andie began groaning. Sammi let out a disappointed sigh, thinking that maybe it was too much for him; maybe his orb light-projector was broken. Andie groaned again, and the glassy orb’s light grew brighter. He coughed out another groan, louder than before, and the orb’s light flashed into an illuminated ball of