Minutes Before Sunset Read Online Free PDF Page B

Because they’ll kill you for being an intruder. “Not yet.”
    Her chest sunk beneath her black sweater. “I don’t understand.”
    “You will,” I promised, grabbing her hand and allowing the energy to flow between us. She was electrifying—more powerful than any other shade I knew—yet she was naïve, and her lack of knowledge made her dangerous. How could she be so strong?
    She gaped at our touch but didn’t move away. “I don’t know how I can learn without meeting others.”
    “Because you don’t need them,” I said, my heart pounding against my ribs. “You have me. I’ll be your mentor.”

Eric
     
    One week passed without much change. In homeroom, I tapped my pencil against the black lab desk and waited for lunchtime. After that, I’d go home and train, but today I only wanted to sit outside in the warming weather. Last week it had snowed, yet it felt like spring outside today. Midwest weather was completely unpredictable and probably the most change I got on a day-to-day basis.
    Staring at the clock, I felt like fifth hour would never end. It was the beginning of second semester, and the teacher was already changing all her rules and lab partners. Personally, I enjoyed the lab system that she had: work alone and work quiet. Then, she started watching Dr. Phil , believed children’s communication skills were dying, and felt the need to force us all to become the best of friends.
    How adorable.
    To get us to bond, she assigned a partner project—with a science theme, of course—and it had to be completed in a month. No exceptions. Ms. Hinkel passed out an array of notebooks, full of rules, and then she called out the groups’ names.
    “Christina Hutchins and Robb McLain, Lab 5,” Ms. Hinkel said, and a thin girl with thick, white hair stood up in protest.
    “My name is Crystal,” she said between smacks of her gum.
    She changed her name before she even got into first grade. I remembered, because she hated the fact that her mother named her without permission, even though Crystal couldn’t talk. I could talk when the Dark named me Shoman, and I still had no say. I envied Crystal’s abilities to fight, but her stubbornness caused a lot of disciplinary trouble.
    She and Robb stared at the station only a few feet away from me, and Ms. Hinkel moved on to the other students. No one was allowed to move from their seats until the teacher finished.
    “Annie Lockman and Justin Paul, Lab 8,” she said, causing a boy behind me to jump out of his much-needed sleep. He had started to snore, and his breath on my back was definitely not appreciated.
    “Jessica Taylor and Eric Welborn,” she droned on, and I didn’t bother looking for my lab partner.
    She was the new girl, and I already knew what she looked like. She had thick, curly brown hair, light blue eyes, and she was always trailing after Robb or Crystal. Instead of staring, I concentrated on my hearing and opened it up to the room. I could hear everything—texting, breathing, gum chewing. The little noises were the ones that bothered me, which was why I used music to drown it all out.
    Crystal was easy to signal out. She was always chewing on her gum, and she smacked it as she tapped my partner’s shoulder. “That sucks, Jess,” she whispered, and Jessica’s hairspray crinkled as she turned her head.
    “Why?” Jessica Taylor—or Jess—had a higher voice than I expected. “He looks nice.”
    Robb laughed. “He’s not.”
    Crystal hummed in agreement. “He’s a freak.”
    Jessica gulped. “He doesn’t seem like one—”
    “That’s because you don’t know him,” Crystal said, explaining the truth. She and Robb had been my best friends since birth, except I hadn’t talked to them since freshman year—not since the accident.
    “Now he only talks to Teresa Young,” Robb finished, and Jessica turned her face, looking around the room.
    “Who’s Teresa?” she asked, and I felt her eyes on my back. I looked the other way. I