Jenny Pox (The Paranormals, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

there are rules.  Don’t touch me—that’s for your own safety.  And you can’t stay in the house, because you might get too close to me.  And I can’t ever pet you—” Her voice broke a little as she said it, and in her mind she flickered back to the white lace wedding gloves. She fought the sudden unexpected tears, and swallowed them back. “But my dad can touch you,” she said. “If you want.  Okay?  And if you ever find a better place, you should run away to there.”
    The dog wagged his tail as she spoke, which made him rock a little bit on his front leg.
    When she stood up, he raced into the woods as if someone had fired a starting gun.
    “ Good boy,” Jenny said. “Keep away from me.”
    And finally, after holding it inside all the way from the Five and Dime, she broke down and let herself cry.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    On the first day of her senior year, Jenny stepped off the school bus with her head already lowered, long hair hiding her face, hoping only to get through the day without being noticed.  Everyone else on her long rural bus route was a freshman or sophomore.  Most of the older kids either had a car or had a friend who did.
    She gripped the straps of her backpack extra tight.  The first day of every year terrified her.
    She headed straight for the bright orange double doors, not looking right or left.  She had to dodge little knots of students that gathered to chat around the outdoor picnic tables.  She glanced at the mural on the front of the school: “Sonny” the Porcupine, the Fallen Oak High mascot, charged down a grassy field dressed in a helmet, football locked under his armpit.  Rival school mascots, including a bear and a gamecock, were skewered on Sonny’s quills, having apparently been foolish enough to tackle a gigantic porcupine.
    When Jenny made it inside, she faced a major obstacle.  Ashleigh Goodling stood with Cassie, Neesha and other girls from the varsity cheerleading squad in the center of the main hallway, right where it intersected the English and Social Studies hall.  There was no way to get anywhere in the school without passing them, unless Jenny wanted to turn back and go around the outside, which would only call attention to herself. 
    Ashleigh, like her friends, was dressed in new clothes and shoes for the first day of school, and all of them looked carefully made up and manicured.  Ashleigh had added dark lowlights to her puffy blond hair.  Most of the girls in school would have the same within two weeks. 
    Jenny felt stupid in her mother’s long-sleeved polka-dotted blouse, the cuffs tucked into her gray gloves, which had grown worn over the summer.  She hoped Ashleigh and her friends were too busy for her.
    Jenny approached the intersection, feeling her stomach knot itself up.  She saw what the girls were doing now, greeting people from the flow of foot traffic, occasionally stopping to hug or to peck a cheek, while giving some kind of full-color paper flyer to everyone who passed.
    She stayed close to the wall and held her breath as she swerved wide around the knot of people.  It was easier than she expected to go unnoticed past the cheerleaders, since lots of people, especially boys, were crowding in on them, eager for anything these girls might be giving away. 
    Jenny managed to slip past them, but when she looked back, she saw Ashleigh staring right at her.  Ashleigh’s expression was neutral, but her eyes narrowed just a little when Jenny met her gaze.  Then Ashleigh snapped her head away with a flip of her golden hair, and squealed an excited greeting at some approaching boys.
    Jenny hurried down the main hall, towards the next intersection—then saw she wasn’t free yet.  Seth Barrett was there, with Everett Lawson the wide receiver, and a gaggle of underlings from the freshman and JV teams.  They were pushing smiles and more full-color flyers on everyone who passed.  Jenny sighed and moved to cut around them.
    “Hey!” Seth