The Wicked Awakening of Anne Merchant Read Online Free PDF Page B

and Garnet. I haven’t even had time to sit with that yet; I’m sure as hell not ready to talk about it, especially not to her .
    “Having my life stolen from me?” I ask. “Or standing here and gossiping with my favorite gang of dead girls?”
    “How does it feel to know you’re going to lose the Big V to me now that Headmaster Voletto is here?” Harper juts her butt out and begins gyrating on the spot. “I’m gonna be twerking up on that fine man, and you can kiss your chance to win good-bye.”
    “What’s twerking?”
    “How long have you been in a coma?” she asks in a fluttering, glittery huff. “Look, just keep your stuff neat ’n’ tidy on your side of the room, got it? I don’t know how small your trailer was back in C-A, but we keep it spick-and-span ’round these parts.”
    Wait. She’s not saying what I think she’s saying, is she?
    “I’m rooming with you?”
    “There’s gotta be a reason your boxes of poor bitch junk are all over my place. Nothin’ to keep secret from you anymore, moron. You’ve graduated to the big leagues, I guess.” She crosses her arms.“And don’t get too excited. You can’t kill me like you did your last roommate.”
    “What?”
    “Murdering Merchant on her murdering rampage. You shot Gigi before you offed Pilot. You’re a total psycho.”
    She and her team whirl—in unmistakably perfect timing—and strut away. I’m about to shout that I had nothing to do with Gigi’s suicide, but why bother? The truth doesn’t matter on Wormwood Island. Avoiding a thousand death stares—do people really think I killed Gigi?—I head toward the dorms. Reluctantly.
    I stop dead when I spot Ben and Garnet standing outside the boys’ dorm.
    They don’t notice me. So I tuck behind a tree. And peek out to watch them.
    Six or seven boxes are stacked against the dorm’s stone walls. Garnet is holding one as she leans, balances, and kisses Ben, who’s crouched to hoist up another box, on the cheek.
    Feeling hot all over, I watch his reaction. This will be the test. Was he faking with me? Is he still into her? Did he lie to me about the two of them?
    He smiles at her.
    And I want to die.
    Maybe I’m already dead, and this is Hell.
    This is definitely Hell.
    Garnet disappears through the front door, leaving Ben outside. My stomach is in my throat. It was only hours ago that Ben was kissing me . Was that all BS? Who kisses someone and then goes back to his ex-girlfriend?
    A dead branch snaps under my foot. Ben turns at the sound. I try to flatten against the back side of the tree, but I’m not fast enough.
    “Hello?” he calls.
    Did he see me?
    “You. Behind the tree. Hiding.”
    I know I’ll look like a total spaz if I keep hiding. So, holding my breath, I step out.

three

    THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB
    “HI, BEN,” I SAY WITH THE LAMEST WAVE IN THE HISTORY of waves.
    Ben drops the box he’s holding. He mouths my name, but I just keep standing like a moron. I feel naked. I have to glance down to be sure I’m still wearing this idiotic school uniform because I’ve never felt so exposed in my life.
    “Are you a ghost?” he asks in a breath, like he’s not sure if I’ll float away at the sound. I can’t speak, not with the memory of Garnet kissing his cheek and, earlier, stroking his arm. “Anne?”
    Oh, God. My name said by his voice. This is why people have names. This is why people have voices.
    He glances over his shoulder, checking the open doorway, and looks back at me like he’s worried I’ll be gone. But instead of appearing relieved to see me, his face falls.
    “Tell me you’re not here,” he says. He must see my chest moving, my breath struggling to flow. “God, you’re really here. You’re back.”
    I nod once, almost imperceptibly. But he’s watching me closely enough that he sees it. He closes his eyes. It’s my chance to get a little closer to him, but I do so only tentatively, on tiptoes, like he might bite if I cross an unseen line. Wormwood