Read Online Buried by Linda Joy Singleton - Free Book Online Page B

“Wiley” isn’t much for comparison. And with Ms. Chu watching so closely, I won’t be able to talk to him until after class—assuming he’ll talk to me. He smiled and told me his name, but then turned away … was he afraid of getting in trouble, or was he avoiding talking to me because we’ve met before? Like yesterday in the haunted gym?
    I poke my pencil in the sharpener, trying to figure out what to say to Wiley when detention ends. Dropping a pencil was too subtle; I should have dropped a book or my backpack (on his head). Okay, that was my hostility reacting. Seriously, to get him talking, I’ll need a cool topic, maybe tats. Rune and I talk about them all the time and sometimes go into the only tat shop in town, Stuck For Life, and plan the tats we’ll get when we turn eighteen.
    The pencil sharpener buzzes till my lead tip is sharp.
    On the way back to my desk (not in a hurry), I get a weird feeling as I pass a bulletin board covered with educational posters, student projects, and flyers. One flyer stops me. It’s a promotion for a new arcade, offering discounts with a student ID. The flyer is cut into the shape of a saddle, and it shows a map of the town with directions to the arcade.
    A map on a paper saddle—just like Sabine said.
    I’m not thinking or even realizing what I’m doing when I lift my hands. It’s like my brain is under siege by a compulsion to touch the map. My fingers reach out and the pencil in my other hand rises to meet the paper.
    When my head clears, I’m standing in front of the saddle-shaped flyer with my pencil marking a spot on the map. I’ve penciled a large black X beyond the boundaries of Nevada Bluff, on a place called Stallion Creek.
    From my fingertips to toes, I begin to shiver because I know this is the locket’s way of leading me to answers, or perhaps of helping someone in trouble.
    X marks the spot.
    And I have to go there.

    Instead of waiting to talk to Wiley after Ms. Chu dismisses us, I grab my backpack, sling it over my shoulder, and jump out of my chair. With the image of the X blazing like a beacon in my head, I’m filled with an urgency that races along with me as I run down the walkway.
    There’s hardly anyone around, although as I pass the auditorium I hear singing. The Singing Star contest. I’m not interested until I realize that Amerie will be inside, and unlike me, she has her own car.
    I push open a metal door, scan the auditorium, and see wings. Amerie stands on the stage talking to a thirty-something woman in a red business suit. Further back on the stage, surrounded by at least a dozen students and a hulky dude who I guess is a bodyguard, is Philippe—bronzed, tall, a wild black ponytail spiraling down his back.
    My heart rushes, despite my logical brain reminding me that he’s just another guy and being a super star doesn’t make him special, any more than my finding things makes me special.
    Still, he’s really hot in snug jeans and a leather vest.
    â€œThorn!” Amerie lifts her arm to wave, her wings glittering under the bright lights and giving the odd impression that she’s taking off for a flight. She murmurs something to the red-suited woman, then hurries over to me. “I knew it!” she tells me triumphantly. “You couldn’t resist coming to see Philippe!”
    â€œDon’t be dense. I’m so not interested.”
    â€œReally? Isn’t that why you’re here?”
    â€œNot even close.”
    â€œSure you wouldn’t like an introduction?” Amerie asks with a wink of glitter lashes.
    â€œWhat part of not interested didn’t you understand? I am not a groupie.”
    â€œStick around and you will be. Just don’t get ridiculous like some of the other girls. Ruby is supposed to be interviewing contestants for the school newspaper but she’s only flirting with Philippe. I finally had to warn her to