Shadow Hills Read Online Free PDF

helpful.”
    “Come on. We’re getting out of here,” she commanded as I disappeared around the corner.
    “Jesus, Corinne. Do you always have to be so rude?” Zach’s voice floated back to me, and I couldn’t help but smile.
    When I returned from the bathroom, they were gone.I glanced around to make sure I was alone, then stood where Zach had been. None of the packages shifted. I held up a hand, my palm facing the notebooks. Everything remained completely immobile.
    “What are you doing?” Graham was standing at the end of the aisle, watching me curiously.
    “Oh. Nothing.” I slapped my hand down by my side. “I thought I might buy a notebook, and I was trying to decide which one to get.” I started down the row to where Graham was. “I’m ready when you are.”
    “But you just said you were getting a notebook.” He raised his eyebrow at me.
    “I said I was thinking about it,” I corrected him. “And I decided not to. So we can go now.”
    “Whatever you say.” Graham shook his head, and we headed outside to the car.
    The distant mountains and towering trees loomed over the narrow road, blocking out any light from the moon as we drove.
    I could see why the town was named Shadow Hills. The darkness was almost a living thing here.
    “So what are you going to do tomorrow?” Graham’s voice broke into my reverie.
    “I’m not sure. I probably should get to know the campus so I can find my classes without carrying a map around. Maybe that way I won’t stand out too much.”
And hopefully I can find out about that creepy graveyard
. Going to the hospital museum was the one thing I really wanted to do.
    “It would be impossible for you to blend in at Devenish, map or no map.”
    “Oh, yeah? And why is that, may I ask?” I hated it when someone who barely knew me tried to act like they had me all figured out.
    “It’s nothing bad.” He threw up his hands defensively. “You’re just different from most of the girls who go to school here. In a good way.”
    Graham seemed to sense my skepticism without looking at me.
    “The students here are so
serious.”
Evidently, this was not a quality that Graham valued. “Their whole lives are about doing well in their classes, getting into a top college—all so they can end up with some high-paying, boring-as-hell desk job.” He shrugged. “I don’t get it. It’s like, you have the rest of your life to be a beleaguered disciple to the Establishment—why start now?”
    I was annoyed by Graham’s certainty that he had me pegged, but I had to agree.
    “That’s the way my dad is—constantly at his office. I don’t understand why he works so hard for this money that he doesn’t even seem to enjoy….” Suddenly I felt very exposed.
    “Exactly. Life isn’t a series of steps you take to get somewhere. It’s everything that happens in between. Or, you know, something like that, but more eloquent and less clichéd.” Graham’s laugh was easy and natural.
    I could definitely see us as friends. And that was what I needed right now.
    “Here we are,” Graham said as he pulled into the Devenish parking lot. “Want me to walk you to your dorm?”
    “Sure.” The well-manicured, deserted grounds gave me a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was so different from wandering around L.A. at night; there was no graffiti, no one was passed out on the park benches. Yet somehow this didn’t make me feel safer.
    As we walked down the sidewalk, I felt the little hairs on the back of my neck raise up and goose bumps travel across my arms. I wanted to turn around and look behind me, but I was afraid if I did Graham would think I was a crazy person.
    “I’m helping with registration until one tomorrow.” Graham tilted his head toward me. “Would you want to grab lunch when I get off? I could help you with your exploration of the grounds.” He playfully poked me with his elbow. “Seriously, what could be more thrilling?”
    “Let me think.” I tapped