The Curiosities (Carolrhoda Ya) Read Online Free PDF

dance, and even though she was still and quiet, and even though she was wearing a borrowed dress, he saw her for who she was. And then he was in real love, the kind that doesn’t change.
    Write it down, tear it up. The wish comes true.
    Simple. Right?
    . . .
    The homecoming dance was about what you’d expect. The gym was dark and full of paper streamers. People were wearing fancy shoes, looking cleaner and more serious than usual. Everything else was pretty much the same.
    I stood alone in my beat-up sneakers and my cousin Rosie’s old prom dress. It was purple taffeta, with a short, poofy skirt and a bow on the back, too fancy for a semiformal and too big in the chest.
    Colin was there with Valerie. They kissed under a huge archway built out of pink and gold balloons, holding hands and looking perfect together. I kept waiting for him to glance in my direction, but he didn’t.

    After nine songs I decided that maybe I was just too far out of the way; maybe I needed to be closer. I crept over to the crowd by the DJ table and slipped in with a bunch of the kids I only knew from PE, wondering why they would even bother to show up to a dance at all since, based on their conversations, they usually spent their Saturdays getting wrecked somewhere.
    Marcus and Sharif laughed way too loud and made out with some of the girls from general track, while Gopher Fitch just leaned against the wall, staring at the crowd. He was watching Bethany Stephens dance to “Wild Horses” with Austin Quaid, looking gloomy and drunk.
    Colin and Valerie were out there too, turning in circles to every slow song. They kissed extravagantly to “Unchained Melody.” I bit the inside of my cheek and looked at my shoes.
    On either side of me, Marcus and Sharif were wrestling with their dates, flopping around like fish. Between them I was completely, perfectly invisible.
    Gopher was there with one of the girls from our PE class, but he didn’t look at her. Sometimes he slipped behind the bleachers for a few minutes and came back out looking more wasted than ever. He watched Bethany and Austin as colored lights washed over them in slow rainbow waves. Bethany’s hair was long and dark and glossy. I knew that she would never look over, the same way Colin Cray was never going to.

    Beside me, Marcus kissed his girlfriend like he was trying to do CPR. When he nearly elbowed me in the head, I gave up wishing on Colin and went outside.
    Just outside the gym was a cluster of cottonwoods. They’d cut the lower branches so there weren’t any handholds, but if you’re nimble, you can climb onto the lid of the Dumpster, and from there it’s not that far to the roof and then just one quick step into the nearest tree. When you are invisible, you can do anything you want without getting in trouble.
    I sat in the cottonwood, watching people leave the gym in twos and fours, stopping under my branch to paw each other awkwardly in the dark. I shivered against the bark, ruining my cousin’s prom dress, wondering why my magic didn’t work.
    Gopher Fitch came out of the gym alone and didn’t head for the parking lot. I pressed myself closer to the tree and sat very still while he put his head down and puked in the shadow of the Dumpster. He did it quietly, like he was trying to disappear.
    I wanted to call down to him, ask how he was. But that would mean drawing attention to the fact that I was sitting in a tree in a giant prom dress, while one of the most aimless boys in school got puking-drunk over a girl who was never going to look twice at him. I didn’t do anything.
    After a few minutes, Sharif opened the door and leaned out. “Hey, Gopher, are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” Gopher said thickly, pressing his cheek against the wall. “It’s fine. Go away.”

    Sharif started to close the door, but he wasn’t quick enough. Marcus shoved past him to stand over Gopher, laughing like it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen.
    “Give it up,” he said, while