circular face and a fish hook shaped dim yellow nose.
The teacher near the front, Ms. Mynowski, accidentally broke her make up mirror after dropping it.
Rose was well read enough to recognize how these were all signs of bad luck.
As all of this happened, she stared outside to notice that the black cat was no longer standing on the sill of the school’s second story, but was now next to a man standing in the middle of the road many yards away in the distance. This person was the cloaked stranger, the one she saw outside of the Realm of Out of Print. Though he was hooded, she swore he was peering through her. He turned around and vanished behind a row of parked cars, their metal glistening under the rainfall.
“ Rose,” Ms. Mynowski said from behind her desk. “Are you concentrating?”
“ Yes,” she lied, picking up her pencil and trying to appear focused.
The restaurant was the size of two theaters. It overlooked the grandiose azure lake as the sun set in the distance, casting purple vapors over the water and through the mountain ranges. Rose had already found a booth in the back, alone. Her date was late.
Rose had filled her Dad in on another lie about where she was, saying she would be at Melinda’s to study for an upcoming exam. Sometimes she had the sense of being at fault for lying to him about things, and even keeping the majority of what she knew about Grady under wraps from her friends, but it was too soon to tell anyone the full story.
Grady soon stepped into the dining establishment well-dressed and groomed, looking flushed in the face. “I’m sorry,” he said, taking her hand in his. “The coach worked us ten times harder today.”
A half an hour after accepting his apology, they ordered. Dinner was good, comprising of a basic Caesar salad for her and a flank steak simmered in tomato sauce for him. The meal lasted a half an hour, and he refused her to see the check when it arrived, so something told Rose that it was expensive.
She stared at him as he reached for his wallet to pay the bill. When they made their way through the doors after the hostess had wished them a good night, they strolled out into the cool front entrance. The wind was frigid. He turned to her for a second, his hands in his pockets.
“ Do you want to take a walk through Pine Park?” Grady asked.
“ Isn’t that a while from here?”
“ It’s twenty feet from where we’re at now.”
She felt herself turning red, knowing very well that her lack of geographical knowledge was a result of her staying inside and reading, living a life that was very rarely located outside of her house, her friends, Ms. Harvey’s bookstore, or school.
“ Sure,” she said. “That would be nice.”
“ There’s also a party going on in a playing field on the other side of the park. I think we should go. It could be a fun time.”
“ It’s a little late for that.”
“ Tons of people’ll be there.”
“ What if I like it being just you and me?”
“ That’s great,” he said, nodding. “It never hurts to socialize though, right?”
“ I guess.”
Holding each other’s hands, they walked into the park. She was still begrudging about doing this initially, but the scenery soon took her breath away. They walked on a dark path where the only thing allowing them to see where they were going was a flashlight that Grady had brought along in his red and white jock sport coat. The silhouettes of branches twisting along the dirt trail made themselves known due to the half moon shedding its light upon the forest.
There was an orange and crimson conflagration in between a few trees, and for a second Rose wondered if a fire had gotten out of hand. When they made their way to the main party, she realized it was a bonfire.
Grady had grabbed two Cokes from the first freezer they encountered when strolling towards the event. Countless people were dancing around the inferno, many of them students she either knew well or had at least
The teacher near the front, Ms. Mynowski, accidentally broke her make up mirror after dropping it.
Rose was well read enough to recognize how these were all signs of bad luck.
As all of this happened, she stared outside to notice that the black cat was no longer standing on the sill of the school’s second story, but was now next to a man standing in the middle of the road many yards away in the distance. This person was the cloaked stranger, the one she saw outside of the Realm of Out of Print. Though he was hooded, she swore he was peering through her. He turned around and vanished behind a row of parked cars, their metal glistening under the rainfall.
“ Rose,” Ms. Mynowski said from behind her desk. “Are you concentrating?”
“ Yes,” she lied, picking up her pencil and trying to appear focused.
The restaurant was the size of two theaters. It overlooked the grandiose azure lake as the sun set in the distance, casting purple vapors over the water and through the mountain ranges. Rose had already found a booth in the back, alone. Her date was late.
Rose had filled her Dad in on another lie about where she was, saying she would be at Melinda’s to study for an upcoming exam. Sometimes she had the sense of being at fault for lying to him about things, and even keeping the majority of what she knew about Grady under wraps from her friends, but it was too soon to tell anyone the full story.
Grady soon stepped into the dining establishment well-dressed and groomed, looking flushed in the face. “I’m sorry,” he said, taking her hand in his. “The coach worked us ten times harder today.”
A half an hour after accepting his apology, they ordered. Dinner was good, comprising of a basic Caesar salad for her and a flank steak simmered in tomato sauce for him. The meal lasted a half an hour, and he refused her to see the check when it arrived, so something told Rose that it was expensive.
She stared at him as he reached for his wallet to pay the bill. When they made their way through the doors after the hostess had wished them a good night, they strolled out into the cool front entrance. The wind was frigid. He turned to her for a second, his hands in his pockets.
“ Do you want to take a walk through Pine Park?” Grady asked.
“ Isn’t that a while from here?”
“ It’s twenty feet from where we’re at now.”
She felt herself turning red, knowing very well that her lack of geographical knowledge was a result of her staying inside and reading, living a life that was very rarely located outside of her house, her friends, Ms. Harvey’s bookstore, or school.
“ Sure,” she said. “That would be nice.”
“ There’s also a party going on in a playing field on the other side of the park. I think we should go. It could be a fun time.”
“ It’s a little late for that.”
“ Tons of people’ll be there.”
“ What if I like it being just you and me?”
“ That’s great,” he said, nodding. “It never hurts to socialize though, right?”
“ I guess.”
Holding each other’s hands, they walked into the park. She was still begrudging about doing this initially, but the scenery soon took her breath away. They walked on a dark path where the only thing allowing them to see where they were going was a flashlight that Grady had brought along in his red and white jock sport coat. The silhouettes of branches twisting along the dirt trail made themselves known due to the half moon shedding its light upon the forest.
There was an orange and crimson conflagration in between a few trees, and for a second Rose wondered if a fire had gotten out of hand. When they made their way to the main party, she realized it was a bonfire.
Grady had grabbed two Cokes from the first freezer they encountered when strolling towards the event. Countless people were dancing around the inferno, many of them students she either knew well or had at least
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