Read Online Coldhearted (9781311888433) by Melanie Matthews - Free Book Online Page A

she hadn’t written down a single word
from his lecture.
    She was too embarrassed to ask Diana and
Madelyn for their notes. She closed her notebook, not wanting them
to see how crazy she was. She didn’t want to lose their friendship.
She’d just met Diana and Madelyn, but they meant so much to
her.
    When the bell rang, Edie gave Diana and
Madelyn a smile, as if nothing were wrong.
    “ We’ll walk you to your next
class,” Diana offered.
    “ Edie, can you stay a
moment?” Mr. Ballantine called out.
    “ Ooh, lucky girl,” Madelyn
said, winking.
    Edie waved goodbye to Diana and Madelyn, and
then had to endure the hard stares of the other girls, who were
clearly jealous of her “alone time” with the hot teacher.
    When the classroom was empty, Mr. Ballantine
made sure the door was wide open, and then came over to where she
was sitting, alone. He stood a few feet back, wary, as if she were
going to lunge after him.
    “ What’s wrong?” she asked,
staring into his dark, gray eyes.
    “ Oh, nothing, Edie, you’ve
done nothing wrong. I just wanted to let you know I’m aware of your
recent losses. I’m sorry. Also, if you ever need to talk, my door
is always open.”
    “ Are you…a qualified
psychiatrist or something?”
    He smiled, embarrassed. “Uh, no, but I have
training. I mean, I’m not going to diagnose you with anything. I
can’t prescribe you anything. I’m just offering an ear, if you want
to talk, about anything.”
    “ Oh,” Edie said, not
sure.
    He took a tentative step forward, testing the
boundaries. “I heard about Mary, I mean Mrs. Featherstone today. I
watched over her class until she came back.”
    “ Oh, you’re Russell?” Edie
blushed. “Sorry, Mr. B.”
    He waved a dismissive hand. “It’s all right.
We’re not a military school. But…don’t call me Russell in front of
the other students. They’ll get…ideas.”
    Edie nodded, understanding.
    “ So…can you tell me what
happened with Mrs. Featherstone?” Russell asked. “I’ve heard
rumors, but I don’t know the facts. You and Mason Fenwick stayed
with her until Principal Jennings arrived, is that
correct?”
    Edie hesitated, not wanting to betray Mrs.
Featherstone, but then she decided Russell was an okay guy. “She
wrote ‘fat girl’ over and over on the blackboard during class. The
students laughed at her. Mason and I stayed with her. I…erased what
she’d written; I didn’t want anyone to see the…evidence. In the
nurse’s station, Mason and I overheard…” Edie trailed off, not
wanting to admit that she and Mason had eavesdropped.
    Russell took another step forward. “Heard
what, Edie?”
    Edie shook her head. “Nothing.”
    He reached out and touched her hand, but then
quickly pulled away, realizing his mistake.
    “ It’s okay,” he coaxed. “You
won’t get into trouble.”
    Edie sighed, and then told him what she’d
overheard.
    Russell thought on what she’d said, and then
divulged, “Mary has always seemed fine. Thin, but fine. We get
along well. I know her family; they’ve been in Grimsby for
generations.” He paused, and then continued, “I didn’t realize
she’s on antidepressants…or hasn’t been on them, I should say.”
    “ In your expertise could the
fact that she wasn’t taking the medication lead her into some sort
of trance, writing ‘fat girl,’ over and over, even though those
words were a reminder of the pain in her past?”
    He took another step forward, and then sat in
Diana’s desk, across from Edie. He was getting bolder. “Well, I’m
not an expert, so I’m at a loss about her behavior. However
medication can have side effects. Antidepressants, when suddenly
stopped, can do unpredictable things to people. Everyone is
different, I think. And considering the fact that she barely eats,
well, malnutrition, perhaps dehydration too, and the sudden
cessation of brain-altering medications may have led her to pull a
painful memory from her past, and put in on display, as