The Burning Man Read Online Free PDF Page B

scholarship.” Then she was off.
    Frowning, Olivia took Rachel’s hand and hustled to catch up with Mrs. Gilbert’s brisk pace.
    “Listen,” she said. “About that scholarship. How did we end up qualifying for it anyway? I don’t remember applying to Deerborn, so I was kind of surprised when I received the tickets in the mail.” She didn’t mention Leona Byers.
    “Right,” Mrs. Gilbert said, leading them across the street to the parking garage. “Well, the Deerborn family has always been charitably inclined, and each year they reach out to a select few gifted but financially challenged students who are experiencing personal hardships, and may not otherwise have access to the kind of high-quality education provided by the Academy.” The way she said it sounded like a commercial. “Here, the van is down this way.”
    Olivia frowned again slightly as she followed Mrs. Gilbert to a dark green minivan with white lettering on the side that read: DEERBORN ACADEMY . Something about the explanation didn’t sit right with her. It sounded too rehearsed, like a speech written by someone else.
    “But why us?” Olivia asked, as Mrs. Gilbert took her suitcase and put it into the back of the van. “I mean, how did you know we were experiencing ‘personal hardships’?”
    “Beats me,” Mrs. Gilbert said with a smile and a shrug. “I just work here.” She closed the hatch in the back of the van and opened the sliding side door. “Come on, hop in.”
    Olivia and Rachel got in and she slammed the door, then went around and got in behind the wheel. Suddenly finding herself confined with a stranger, Olivia felt nervous. But for Rachel’s sake she didn’t say a word.
    “So why don’t you tell me your story,” the woman said as she keyed the ignition and pulled out of the parking spot. “What sort of personal hardship brought you to us?”
    “Our mom died,” Rachel said. “She had cancer.”
    Olivia kicked Rachel’s foot and shot her a warning look. She got a hurt expression in return. Her sister was like a happy puppy that would eat out of anyone’s hand, but Olivia wasn’t sure if they should trust this woman yet.
    “Gee, that’s awful,” Mrs. Gilbert said. She leaned out the window to pay the parking fee to someone in a booth, and then headed out of the airport toward the highway. “I lost my mom at a young age, too. Lymphoma. I was eight.”
    “Wow,” Rachel said. It was obvious from her face that she wanted to say more, but didn’t, because of her sister’s silent warning.
    Olivia couldn’t help thinking that maybe she was being unnecessarily paranoid. That maybe she ought to lighten up. After all, this scholarship could be the best thing that had ever happened to them. It certainly seemed like a dream come true.
    Problem was, she wasn’t sure she believed in dreams come true.
    They stopped at a mall on the way to the school. Rachel went a little berserk and wound up with both arms full of shopping bags, while Olivia was more practical in her choices. Her only indulgence was a pair of black eight-hole Doc Martens boots, which she’d always wanted but had never been able to dream of affording.
    Once they’d crammed all their purchases into the van, they headed away from the city and into the picturesque New England countryside. Rachel and Mrs. Gilbert were chatting away like they were best girlfriends, but Olivia didn’t really feel like talking. She was too busy taking in the scenery.
    It seemed like another world. Autumn wasn’t really a thing in Florida, and was often just as hot and humid as the summer. Here, autumn was a Technicolor, multisensory experience. The air was cold and crisp and smelled like burning leaves and apples and wet stones, tempting Olivia to hang her head out the window. The leaves on the trees were just starting to turn color, a phenomenon she’d read about in science class, but had never seen in real life.
    A stand of normal, green trees would be whizzing by outside