Projection Read Online Free PDF Page B

she and her father were being led away to a car, leaving her mother behind in a dark wood casket where a mound of earth used to be.

CHAPTER FIVE
    The summer wore on slowly and painfully. In the first days after her mother’s murder, Gretchen cancelled her plans to spend four weeks at sleepaway camp. She wasn’t up for all of the laughing and lightheartedness; she wasn’t ready yet to pretend that she was fine. She knew that was coming, of course. Once school started, she’d have to act breezy and strong. But with nothing to do all day except sit home and be sad, she grew bored and anxious.
    Worse, Jessica was beginning to distance herself. She’d been calling and texting less and less; she hadn’t come by in almost two weeks. Not that Gretchen could really blame her for it. No doubt Jessica was gearing up for high school. Ninth grade at Delphi High comprises two eighth grade classes; one from Delphi Middle School, where they had gone, and another from Outer Delphi, the other middle school in their township. That meant there would be another two hundred kids to navigate and another “cool crowd” vying for popularity. No doubt Jessica was also anticipating the gossip thatwould be swirling around Gretchen; she would be “the girl whose mom had been murdered in her own house.” She got it. If she were Jessica, she wouldn’t want to be associated too closely with her, either. But still, they were best friends, and if you couldn’t count on your best friend at a time like this …
    As if thinking about her loneliness had somehow conjured some company, there was a knock at her door.
    “Hey, Gretch?”
    It was just her dad: the same zombie she passed in the silent halls of their home, day in and day out. She tried to muster a smile from bed as he pushed open the door. He’d lost weight since the funeral. He’d also stopped caring about his appearance. His hair was uncombed, his pale jowls unshaven. His face looked sunken and hollow.
    “What’s up?” Gretchen asked.
    He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Do you remember that anklet that Mom used to wear? The one with the orange-y stone in it? I can’t find it anywhere. Have you seen it by any chance?”
    Gretchen’s heart skipped a beat. “Actually, I’ve been looking for it, too. She was wearing it the night of the … party.”
    His eyes sharpened. “She was? Are you sure?”
    “I’m positive. We were talking in the tent right before everyone came, and I remember noticing it. But when she, um, when she was, you know, in the bedroom … it wasn’t on her. I looked in her jewelry drawer, and I checked in the tent and in the backyard. I thought maybe it had fallen off. But I never found it.”
    Her father’s brow creased. He shifted on his feet again. “Why were you looking for it?”
    “I don’t know. It was pretty, and she was wearing it that night, and it reminded me of her. I just wanted to have it.”Gretchen paused and sat up in bed, tossing the covers aside. “Why are
you
looking for it?”
    “Same reason,” he said with a shrug. He started to turn, then hesitated. “Did you mention to the police that it was missing?”
    “No. Why? What’s so important about it?” Suddenly, it dawned on her what he was thinking. “You don’t think … Dad? Do you think whoever killed her stole the anklet? It wasn’t valuable, was it? She told me it was something she found at a vintage store.”
    He shook his head. “No. That’s not what I’m thinking. It was an old piece of junk, like you said. Nobody would want it.” He coughed twice—two staccato,
huh-huhs
into his hand. Gretchen crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her dad always did that when he was holding something back. Her mom used to joke that he would have made a pathetic poker player because he had such an obvious tell.
    “What are you not telling me?” Gretchen demanded.
    “Nothing.” He forced a strained smile. “I mean it, Gretch. I just wanted it for the