Stalking Shadows (Scary Mary) Read Online Free PDF Page B

whatever was going on between them a secret from her.
    Mrs. Myers began class by collecting their papers. Cy, of course, didn’t have one. He got an extension.
    She tried to pay attention, but her eyes kept wandering back to the empty seat. How had she missed everything? Why hadn’t Cy mentioned anything?
    She was nervous as she wrote it, but she still passed him the note.
    So you and Vicky were on a date?
    He grabbed her pen and scratched a reply slowly with his right hand.
    Yes. Don’t want to talk about it.
    Her head swiveled to him. “ Don’t want to talk about it? ” She’d thought they were friends. They’d eaten lunch together. They sat beside each other in class. She’d thought they’d both disliked Vicky. Originally, he’d sat beside her to stay away from Vicky!
    Cy was watching the teacher intently. He wouldn’t even glance at her. She’d seriously held out a slim hope that Vicky had tricked him into the date, or maybe that the reports were wrong, that maybe they hadn’t been on a date. But he was not bolstering her hope, he was destroying it. How could he have done this to her?
    She didn’t even try to make her notes neat and legible. She barely paid attention to Mrs. Myers’ lecture. It was petty, and it was hurting her as much as Cy, but she was mad. And hurt. If he chose to go out with a girl like Vicky, then he wouldn’t choose to go out with a girl like her. It was simple, really. If someone enjoyed sunny, warm, tropical islands, then that someone wouldn’t enjoy dark, cold, Arctic plateaus. Mary sat back and got colder. Most people preferred sunny, warm, tropical islands. That’s why they were popular. Dark, cold, Arctic plateaus didn’t get many tourists. And the few who did go had probably meant to take the plane to Cozumel. Maybe Cy had gotten on the wrong plane. He’d tried to play it off as intentional, but he’d snuck off to warmer climes when he’d gotten the chance.
    When the bell rang, she gathered her things. “I’ll go make copies of my notes in the library. Do you want to wait at the front of school for me to bring them out?”
    He hung his book bag on his good shoulder. “No, I’ll go with you.”
    She didn’t reply and exited the room. They walked in silence to the library while students streamed around them in the opposite direction. She caught herself glancing back to make sure Cy wasn’t getting jostled by the other students. Walking against the flow in a crowd had to be dangerous for his arm. She felt like a chump for worrying about him.
    She entered the library and went to the copier. Another student was already using it. She stood back to wait. Cy came up beside her. He held out his hand. It had a dollar in change in it.
    “Here.”
    She took the change stiffly and set about ignoring him again. It was what one was supposed to do with strangers.
    “I knew you’d be upset if you heard I went out with her.”
    She stopped ignoring him. “Oh, so now we can talk about it?”
    He winced. “I didn’t want to try explaining it in notes with my right hand.”
    “Was it your first date?”
    “Officially, yeah.”
    “There were unofficial dates?”
    “We’d gotten together a few times to study, and there were group things.”
    “You hung out with her friends?”
    His back stiffened. “It was Key Club stuff. She’d joined, too.”
    “So you hung out in Key Club and studied together. For someone who doesn’t like her, you sure do hang out with her a lot.”
    “I don’t dislike her.”
    She had figured that out, but hearing Cy say it still felt like a punch in the gut. “Hanging out with me must really piss her off.”
    “She’s not thrilled about it, but she can’t pick my friends. She knows that, and she’s cool with it, but I guess my friends think they can pick who I date.”
    “Oh no, you don’t get to play it like that. I was never the bad guy here. You didn’t tell me squat. I didn’t even know you liked her. In fact, I thought you didn’t