Inevitable Read Online Free PDF Page A

because I actually did the homework.
    The bell rang, and Dana and I joined the throng of anxious students trying to get out of the classroom.
    “See ya at lunch,” Dana said, popping a Dum-Dum into her mouth. “Wonder where Hottie is now?”
    Several girls in the hall glanced back at Dana before whispering together and moving on.
    “Looks like you’re not the only one who’s noticed him. Watch out,” I warned.
    “From those girls?” Dana glanced over her shoulder. “They’re more likely to be the Lacey Township murderer than boy competition.”
    “What?” I wrinkled my nose at her, perplexed. “Where did that come from?” The afore-mentioned girls might have claws under their manicures, but they sure weren’t murderers.
    “Oh, you must not’ve heard. There was another murder last night. In the Pine Barrens.”
    “Another murder?” I shook my head. “People get lost out in the Pine Barrens all the time.” I pictured the dense cedar forest just west of us. “Probably got dehydrated or something.”
    “Right. And then slit her own throat?”
    I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. I knew death, and I knew people went before their time. But murders? “That doesn’t happen around here.”
    “Of course not. We don’t get cute guys from foreign countries either, and yet... there’s one here.”
    I shifted gears with Dana, my mind already on the new kid. “Well, good to know you’re interested. I’ll steer clear.”
    “Who even said I was interested?” She shrugged. “I just like looking.”
    We both laughed and then turned down different hallways. I ran my fingers along the painted white brick. Dana had no idea how easy her life was. This whole Sight thing totally ran mine. How unfair.
    I daydreamed my way through history, a class that didn’t require any more of my attention than a few devoted hours right before exams.
    I opened my English folder on the way to fourth hour, just to make sure my outline was there for our final research project. I’d already started researching and nearly had my first draft finished, but the teacher only wanted to see the outline today. The topic I had chosen, motifs in Shakespearean tragedies, was so open-ended that I could have outlined forever. I shouldn’t have any problems hitting the twenty-page mark.
    The lemon scent caught me by surprise as I was about to enter the classroom. I froze in the doorway, eyes on my outline, afraid even to look up. What if I made eye contact with whoever it was?
    But I knew who it was. English was not one of the classes I had to worry about. Which meant somebody new was here.
    My stomach muscles tightened, and I debated what to do. The scent grew stronger, and someone bumped my shoulder. “Oh, sorry.”
    There was no mistaking that accent. I closed my eyes, my shoulder tingling where he’d bumped me.
    “Hey, don’t I know you?” His footsteps paused and then came closer, the lemon getting stronger.
    I drew in a hasty breath, turning my back to him before I opened my eyes. “Not feeling well. Sorry!” I fled down the hallway, my heart beating in my eardrums.
    Great. Not only was he in my English class, but he wasn’t going to avoid me. Which meant I had to avoid him.
    But first I had to go to the nurse’s office and pretend to be sick. Otherwise, I’d get marked truant.
    I hung out with the nurse through fourth period, claiming to have horrible cramps. She gave me some medication and let me sit for half an hour until it kicked in. Then she sent me back to class.
    I didn’t go, though. I slipped into the bathroom and waited it out. Dana was right. I was nothing but a coward.
    At lunch I waited for Dana by the vending machine, our usual meeting place. I tossed an apple in one hand and fingered a bag of Doritos in the other. My usual mix. I definitely ate healthier on the weekends. Or at least, I ate more.
    The line in front of the machines began to die down, and still no Dana. Where was she? I distinctly remembered her