Uncanny Day Read Online Free PDF Page B

sarcastic smile twisted her lips. “And how are your shins feeling?” she asked. You couldn’t call comic books “funny books” around Kate or she’d kick you in the shins. I had the bruises to prove it.
    â€œNever mind. You were saying?” I returned.
    Kate went on to explain that apparently the situation between the girls reminded her of a sequence in the comic book. We exited school and walked toward the front of the student parking lot. With her nose buried deep inside her comic, Kate kept pace with me. The lot was full of rumbling, rust-covered cars owned by teens ready to escape school themselves. I had to pull Kate back just before she stepped in front of one that didn’t seem to see her.
    Her legs fumbled, she lost her balance, and she turned and fell into me. Kate’s hands gripped my arms. I held strong and didn’t fall. The moment was lucid but short-lived as I helped her stand back up. My hands still held her arms. Realizing this, I reacted as if they were blistering hot. Embarrassed, I shoved my hands in my pockets. I had to find something to say.
    â€œYou should probably put that thing away.”
    With an awkward roll of her eyes, Kate stuffed the comic back into her messenger bag then sheepishly said, “Oh well, I can’t find it anyway.”
    Kate was probably the closest thing I had to a friend—well, except for Dean. I thought he was friends with everybody, though. Kate, I was coming to realize, had always been there, although she had her newspaper crowd and league of underlings and I didn’t have anybody. It seemed like everybody in school wanted something from me, but never just me. I felt like I was marked for some reason.
    Even being in the foster care system, I felt like I was given a strike, like it was my fault that Dad was an abusive, half-minded drunk. Society didn’t want me to be myself; society wanted to shape me. Don’t get me wrong—the Mitchell family meant well, but sometimes you can’t help the helpless.
    Finally Kate and I made it to Dean’s car, but there was no Dean. He was likely still in school organizing, mentoring, or signing up for something. Kate leaned against the car and flipped open her black notebook. I jumped on the trunk of the car with a quick nap in mind.
    The coolness of the rear window’s glass stung my bare neck at first, but then I relaxed, and, for what it’s worth, I started to calm. It felt good.
    â€œWhat if you just asked him?” Kate said, interrupting my rest.
    â€œSay what? Are you still here?” I sat up to look at her.
    A light breeze teased through us.
    â€œWhat if you just asked Greg the truth?”
    I sighed and laid my head back down. “Great plan, Huddy, but school’s over,” I said.
    â€œRight, school’s over, but what better place to catch the new guy than the school parking lot, where he’s obviously forgotten where he parked his car?”
    My eyes were closed, yet I knew that “idea” expression was all over Kate’s face. I gave it a second to filter through my head. Of course Kate wouldn’t say something like that unless she had evidence. I tilted my head back up at her, but she didn’t have her eyes on the wandering Greg; she had them on Stephanie.
    Stephanie’s head shifted over to the left every once in a while and watched a befuddled Greg jingle his keys in his hands, as if he were looking for a lost dog. I saw her wiping her eyes. And then, before I knew it, Kate was moving in Stephanie’s direction.
    â€œYou go talk to Greg. I’ll see what Stephanie knows.”
    Crap.
    My ego kicked in. Forget it , I thought, this thing is over . If Kate wanted to take it over and question Stephanie, she was welcome to do so. I was paid, done deal, cased closed.
    Then I felt it. Right at the base of my skull, like that piece of cold glass had stung my skin. It was the irk of responsibility. The case