The Candidates Read Online Free PDF

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    I picked halfheartedly at a few blackheads. My whole body felt out of sorts. I’d spent the night fantasizing about Cam, imagining us as boyfriend and girlfriend, walking down the hall arm in arm. It was painfully delicious, even in my mind, and definitely not conducive to a good night’s sleep.
    But he was just being nice, I kept reminding myself; just doing his job.
    As if that could keep me from developing the crush of the century.
    I decided to go for a jog. Running usually helped clear my head. And now that I knew Cam, I had a figure to maintain.
    I dug through my hamper and found an old pair of running shorts and a relatively clean T-shirt with a picture of Danville Central Hospital on it.
    Grandma’s not much for doing laundry, and unfortunately, neither am I.
    Grandma’s door was closed, which was a relief because I had a suspicion she would want to talk about Delcroix as soon as she woke up. I tiptoed past her bedroom and through the living room, locked the door behind me, and started off at a decent pace down the street.
    According to Grandma, people in Danville used to make good money working at the mill or logging in the forests. But they stopped logging before I was born, and closed the mill, so now there’s just a lot of rundown houses and people without work. People like Grandma and me, who are just getting by.
    The bright side is that the forests nearby are young and thick, and there are trails within a few miles of my house. When I was a kid, Grandma would take me on picnics and nature walks, and I always loved it, even when I pretended not to. I feel better in the woods, like my problems aren’t so overwhelming.
    We’re close to Mount Rainier, which has always worried me a little because they say it’s only a matter of time before it erupts again, and it would be just my luck to get caught in a freak lava flow. But this morning all I could see was the peak off in the distance, covered with snow. It looked peaceful, and the air was damp and still. The slap of my sneakers against the road was the only sound I could hear, and I calmed down a little as I ran.
    Maybe things would be different at Delcroix, just like Cam said. Maybe I wouldn’t feel threatened. Maybe I wouldn’t have to try so hard to make myself invisible. Danville Middle School wasn’t exactly a good place to stand out, but with all the amazing kids at Delcroix, no one would be paying the least bit of attention to me, right?
    Even though I hated the idea of leaving Grandma alone, I had to admit that living at Delcroix sounded pretty amazing.
    No doctor appointments, no cooking or cleaning, a computer, a library I could use whenever I wanted… . And then there was Cam. Living at Delcroix meant I’d get to see Cam every day .
    Images of Cam seemed to block out all rational thought, so I didn’t see the kid running toward me until we were about to collide. He was looking over his shoulder and scowling at the road behind him, eyebrows knit together like a dark smear across his forehead. He had long legs and arms, black hair, and pale skin. I thought I saw the scrawl of a tattoo across one bicep.
    “Hey!” I yelled, ducking out of the way just in time to avoid being flattened.
    He stopped and spun around. His gaze darted wildly from my face to the road and back. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He brushed it off with an impatient, trembling hand.
    I saw panic in his eyes, and fear in the rigid, jerky way he kept moving, as if he couldn’t afford to stand still.
    “Are you okay?” I asked.
    He looked over his shoulder again, and then took a step closer to me. Grabbing my shoulders, he peered right into my face. “If a man asks if you’ve seen me, say no, okay?”
    Beautiful silvery-gray eyes stared out from spiky black eyelashes. I froze, unable to tear my gaze from his.
    “Okay?” he repeated, shaking my shoulders. His voice cracked.
    I gulped, my heart pounding in my chest. Suddenly I had a taste of the fear that seemed to