My mind returned to the window stalker from the previous night and goose bumps flashed across my skin. Might it really be the killer or just a local reporter pursuing a good story?
The sound of raised voices downstairs made me bolt upright, but it was impossible to hear what was being said. I slipped out of bed and tiptoed into the hall. The rich fragrance of coffee greeted me. My feet were noiseless on the staircase as I lightly padded downstairs. Linda, Devon, and Ronald were all in the kitchen. I pressed myself against the wall and listened.
“He’s only doing his job. They’ve already interviewed her teachers and friends. At least they waited until she was released from the hospital to contact us. That was very considerate of them,” Linda said. Her voice was calm but it was impossible to miss the tension behind it.
“Considerate? They know she doesn’t remember anything. They’ll only make it worse if they interrogate her,” Devon said, and he was anything but calm. It was hard to believe that the same guy with the permanent grin was capable of sounding so upset.
A moment of silence followed before Ronald’s deep voice sounded. “I don’t like it either. That’s why I told the police they’ll have to wait a few days. But we’re supposed to keep them updated. If Maddy tells us anything, even if it doesn’t seem significant, we have to report it.”
“If they’d done their job, they would have caught him by now. They don’t have a clue. When Sheriff Ruthledge interviewed me, he seemed totally lost. Maddy doesn’t even know what happened to her. If she hears all the details, she’ll be terrified,” Devon said.
“It’s in the newspapers and all over town. There’s no way we could keep it from her. We have to talk to her before school today. There’s no other choice.”
Linda’s sniffing grew louder. “I don’t want her to find out. I don’t want her to go to school or out of this house. I just want to lock her in her room until they catch that monster.” A chair scraped over the floor. I peeked around the corner. Ronald had moved his chair next to Linda’s and was embracing her.
Devon’s face was buried in his hands. “Who’s going to tell her?” he asked, his voice muffled.
Ronald brushed a wisp of hair from Linda’s face before giving a resolute nod. “I will.”
I turned and hurried up the stairs, my insides churning.
• • •
When I entered the kitchen an hour later, Linda didn’t stop fussing, constantly asking if I was sure about going to school, if I felt well, if I’d taken my pills—really placebos that Dr. Fonseca had given me. Ronald looked as anxious as his wife while his gaze followed me from over his coffee cup.
Linda set down a mug in front of me and filled it with coffee. She didn’t say a word, her smile fleeting. In my normal life, I didn’t drink coffee. Had Madison liked her coffee black or with milk and sugar? That hadn’t been in the file. I turned my attention to the plate, giving Ronald time to gather his courage. Linda’s homemade blueberry pancakes melted on my tongue, my fingers becoming sticky with maple syrup. Ronald folded the newspaper, smoothing over the edges. His hands shook. I wiped my fingers on a napkin, knowing what would come.
“There’s something we need to tell you,” he said quietly. Linda and Devon fell silent and may have stopped breathing.
I lowered my eyes, not able to stand the looks on their faces.
“Before you were in the hospital, you didn’t have an accident. Your injuries . . . someone attacked you.” He cleared his throat.
I hesitated. “I know. I overheard the nurses talking about my scars,” I whispered. I lightly touched the bandage on my chest, where the A lay concealed beneath it. “Do they know who did it?” I should be nominated for an Oscar.
Linda clutched her coffee pot and Devon glared at the tabletop but it was Ronald who finally shook his head, eyes haunted. “They arrested a homeless man after the first murder but he was in custody when the second murder happened.”
“So they don’t have any suspects?” I asked softly, my voice scared. It didn’t take much of my acting skills to sound that way.
Ronald shook his head.
“And . . . do you suspect anyone?”
“No. You got along so well with everyone,” he said in that adoring fatherly way.
Linda put her hand on mine. “They’ll find him soon. You don’t have to be afraid. Dad and I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“There’s always a police car in front of the school,” Devon added.
They watched my face for a reaction. If I acted terrified, I knew they’d never let me out of their sight. “I’m okay,” I said. “I don’t want to hide. I don’t want to spend my time being scared of something I don’t even remember.”
I could see on their faces that they wanted nothing more than to put the attack behind them, too. If only it were that easy. Finally, Devon spoke.
“We really have to get going or we’ll be late. You’ll be the center of attention today, so walking the halls will take twice as long.” He got up and gathered his car keys and his backpack, waiting for me in the doorway.
My palms felt sweaty at the thought of being under so many people’s scrutiny. It increased the chance of someone noticing I wasn’t who I claimed to be. But it was also my chance to find out more about the murders, about Madison’s friends, and about Ryan. And to try to find, in Major’s words, the chink in the perfect armor that was Madison’s life.
I rose from the table and Linda held my backpack out to me. “Promise me that you’ll always stay with Devon or Ana. Don’t go anywhere alone.”
“Okay, Mom.”
Ronald opened a drawer, took something from it, and held it out to me. “Pepper spray, just in case.” I slipped it into my backpack, though I was sure Alec would give me something more effective once we had our first meeting.
I hesitated, not sure what the usual morning routine was. Did Madison hug her parents before she left? Since Devon was watching me expectantly I decided not to rack my brain over it. I followed Devon out of the house toward his car. Ronald and Linda stood in the doorway. I could see on their faces just how much they didn’t want to let me out of their sight, and if it hadn’t been for Major’s impatience, I might have given in and waited a few more days before starting school again.
“Be careful,” Linda called as we got into the car.
I waved to them as we pulled out of the driveway. Devon’s posture grew tense as he drove. Suddenly, it seemed like his calm demeanor was all an act for his parents’ sake. Finally he spoke.
“If anyone’s bothering you, tell me and I’ll talk to them.” His knuckles cracked from his tight grip on the steering wheel.
“When Dad said I got along well with people, I saw you look away,” I said. “What was that about?”
“Nobody gets along with everyone.”
“Do you think the person who . . . hurt me . . . goes to school with us?”
Devon’s expression grew tight. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about it a lot. There are a lot of creeps in school and you always seemed to be drawn to them. First Ryan and then—”
He stopped.
“And then who?”
We parked in the already crowded parking lot beside a gray building that reminded me more of a prison than a school—a three-story building with a flat roof and rows of perfectly uniform square windows. Devon turned the engine off before his eyes searched my face. With a sigh he shook his head and reached for the door handle. I gripped his arm.
“Who? Who were you talking about?”
A knock on the window made my heart jump into my throat. The door opened and a girl with long, curly brown hair and huge brown eyes beamed at me: it was Ana. Her face was familiar. I’d seen her in so many pictures, but sometimes it was difficult to translate those images to real life.
“Ana!” I said.
She wrapped her arms around me and a small tearful hiccup escaped her throat. I had to force my body to go soft at her touch. “I thought you didn’t recognize me.?
?? She stepped back so I could get out of the car and close the door. Her eyes darted to my throat. I should have covered it up with a scarf.
“Of course not. How could I forget you?” I asked.
Devon hovered beside the bumper. His hands rested casually in his pockets but his eyes darted over the parking lot—keeping watch. That’s when I noticed how many eyes were turned toward me, how everyone had stopped doing whatever they’d been doing to stare at me like I’d just risen from the dead.
Devon positioned himself on my left side and Ana sidled up on my right, sandwiching me between them like my personal bodyguards as we made our way toward the front doors. Some people stumbled over their feet because they were gaping and pointing at me. Had their parents never taught them manners? A small part of me wanted to shape-shift to give them the scare of their lives.
“What jerks,” Ana said as we went inside.
The halls weren’t crowded, probably because so many people were standing outside, still whispering among themselves. Were they too shy to approach me? I was welcomed by only a few mildly familiar people whose faces I couldn’t link to a name. They kept glancing at my throat and I could tell they were curious, but thankfully, they didn’t dare to ask. Maybe Devon’s glare was what stopped them.
If I’d really been Madison, would it have bothered me? Would this have hurt my feelings? It was likely, but I wasn’t sure.
“We have biology first,” Ana reminded me.
I’d studied the schedule and even browsed a few of the schoolbooks since I would have to participate in all of Madison’s classes. It was the first time I’d ever been in high school. If the situation was different, I might have enjoyed it. But I was out of my league. I didn’t know the first thing about how to act like a regular student, let alone a senior.
Ana stopped in front of a locker and entered the combination. The lockers were yellow and matched half of the overly cheerful yellow-and-blue checkered tiles on the floor.
“Umm, that’s yours.” Ana pointed at the locker next to hers. A piece of paper stuck out of the gap between the door and the frame. Devon grabbed it before I could react, but I snatched it out of his hand. “That’s for me.”
For a moment, he looked like he wanted to argue. “Who’s it from?” he asked. Ana had stopped rummaging and stared at Devon and me. “Do you know my combination?” I asked, but Devon didn’t let the topic change slip. He reached past me and turned the lock first right, then left, and then again right. He pulled it open and handed me a scrap of paper with the numbers. “Now spill, Maddy.”
People were whispering and watching but no one stood close enough to eavesdrop. Nervously, I unfolded the letter. It was a message from Ryan.
Hey Maddy,
I know you’ll be back today, and I can’t wait to see you. I was so worried about you. Your brother didn’t want to tell me anything. (You know how he is.) But I can’t stay away from you. I miss you.
I need to talk to you. Meet me in the parking lot after school. Please?
Ryan
“No. You’re not meeting him,” Devon said. He’d been reading over my shoulder. “You don’t remember how miserable you were because of him. I won’t let him use your amnesia to get you back.”
I crumpled the letter and chucked it into my locker. “I can take care of myself.”
“Please, just once, listen to me. Stay away from Ryan, at least for a few days until everything is settled.” I gave a reluctant nod and picked up my biology book and a folder. Devon walked Ana and me toward the classroom. “Is Ryan in biology with you guys?”
Ana nodded. “We share most of our classes.”
“I’ll be fine, really. I mean, when did I break up with him?”
“Like two months ago,” Ana said. The first murder happened around that time.
“So it’s been a while. It’ll be fine,” I said. They didn’t look convinced, and who could blame them after reading that letter? “Go,” I urged. With a last glance over his shoulder, Devon jogged to his class.
Ana and I took our seats and a hush fell over the room. This was starting to grate on my nerves. I gave them all a smile to show them I was really alive. If they realized I knew they were staring, they might stop. As if someone had just yelled “action!” the girls gathered around my table and the boys slowly followed.
A tall girl, thin as a stick bug, spoke first. “We’re so happy that you’re back, Madison. People said you were badly injured.” She paused as if she thought I might contradict her.
“We were all really worried. The police questioned us after what happened,” a black-haired girl added. She looked vaguely familiar; I thought her name might have been Stacey.
“It’s incredible how fast you’ve recovered,” Stick Bug said. Her eyes were eager and curious. They hadn’t come to welcome me back. They had come to gather fodder for gossip. I forced myself to focus on their hands (were they fidgeting?), their body language (were they tense or sweating more than usual?), and their expressions (were they too sympathetic, too kind, like they were trying to compensate for their lack of real emotion?). I filed the info away. My eyes darted to the people who had stayed in their seats. Were they feigning uninterestedness in order to seem innocent?
Some people were whispering. One boy with blond hair, pale skin, a narrow face, and a haggard body kept his head down. I couldn’t see his hands but his shoulders were tilted toward his ears as if he hoped to disappear into his seat.
Another girl touched my shoulder. “Does it still hurt?” She pointed at my throat and the boy beside her nudged her. What a stupid question. I shook my head.
“Do you remember anything?” a girl who’d sneaked up behind Stick Bug asked. Her hair was dark as coal and so were her eyes. Suddenly everyone seemed to hold their breath. Ana made a sound that reminded me of a growl. “Shut up, Franny.”
The girl flinched before narrowing her eyes.
Mrs. Coleman, the biology teacher, chose that moment to enter the room, as a few late students scurried in behind her and everyone scattered to their seats. She leveled her eyes on me and gave a curt nod before she turned her attention to the books she’d set down on her desk.
“Wow, what a welcome,” I said under my breath. Ana shrugged.
“People want to know the truth. The newspaper has been reporting about the murders for weeks and everyone’s scared. You’re the only victim that survived and people are making up their own theories about that, how you’ve come back from the dead.”
“I wasn’t dead,” I said.
Ana’s eyes turned soft. “No, but you were so still. I was there once, in the hospital. You looked so . . . lifeless.” I remembered the way Madison had looked. So small in the hospital bed, so lost.
I smiled at her. “I’m back.”
Mrs. Coleman harrumphed, seemingly drawing up to twice her height—which wasn’t much—until every gaze settled on her. “Darwin’s theory of evolution.”
I bit back a groan. Evolution was the last thing I wanted to hear about, especially since the way most humans learned it was wrong. They never learned of nature’s slip or whatever you want to call the existence of people like me or Alec or Kate. Variants.
Speaking of Alec. Where the hell was he? I thought he was supposed to arrive at school today and I knew he had biology with me—I’d compared our schedules beforehand. Had he somehow managed to weasel his way out of it? If so, I’d have to have a serious talk with Major. It was unfair that I had to suffer through high school while he was doing God knows what. Probably having phone sex with Kate. The thought of it made me want to puke up my pancakes.
A knock interrupted Mrs. Coleman’s bland introduction of Charles Darwin. With a cutting glare that would have made me squirm if I wasn’t already used to Major, she turned her attention to the door. Alec—every tall, muscled, self-assured inch of him—entered. The fury instantly vanished from Mrs. Coleman’s face. She blinked at Alec, and his gray eyes held her gaze. She was a goner.
“I’m so
rry for being late. I’m new and I had to meet with the principal first.” He didn’t hand her a slip of paper that would have confirmed his statement but she didn’t ask him to. In moments like that, I couldn’t help but wonder if Major wasn’t the only FEA agent with a hidden mental Variation. Or was it really just Alec’s good looks that made people react to him the way they did?
Mrs. Coleman nodded and pointed Alec to the sole free seat—next to Franny, one row behind us. Our eyes met briefly as he walked past my table but his face didn’t show any recognition. I hoped I’d managed the same. My face always seemed to go still when I saw him. Every girl—even Mrs. Coleman—watched Alec as he lowered himself into his chair. That was why being in love with someone like him was such a bad idea. Even if he wasn’t with Kate, there’d still be all the other girls who’d give their right arm to be his.
My eyes met with a pair of olive green ones at the end of the room and the face they belonged to immediately rang a bell. It was Ryan. I hadn’t even seen him come in. He must have been among the late arrivers who filed into the room behind Mrs. Coleman. He had dark brown shaggy hair that brushed his ears. His face was unreadable. A girl with a cute bob that framed her oval face tried to get his attention but he ignored her. I turned around, stunned by the intensity of his gaze.
I jumped when Ana’s voice pressed against my ear. “Dude, he’s so not over you. Before you were attacked he tried to get you back by making you jealous with other girls. Such a jerk.”
I was sure the note wasn’t the last I’d hear from Ryan.
I tried to focus on Mrs. Coleman, in case she asked me a question. Most teachers would probably cut me some slack because I’d gone through so much but Mrs. Coleman seemed to be the unrelenting type.
Boredom turned out to be my biggest problem during class. Linda and Ronald really had been worried about nothing. I definitely wouldn’t overexert myself.