to look brighter, smells intensified, and I began to feel detached. I felt myself sliding into a kind of time warp. I'm not sure whether I fell asleep or what, but I heard a voice a long way away, “Hey, Ashla, can you hear me?” I was being shaken and opened my eyes to find Delta gazing down on me. “Say something intelligent,” he ordered.
“That’s beyond the scope of this high,” I told him thickly. “This is ‘ a high ’, I assume.”
“I might have thought so if you hadn’t started snoring. You go without sleep for the last couple of nights, or what?”
I sat up and looked around. It was dark outside. “Sleep is optional lately. What time is it?” I got up and looked out the window.
“Almost midnight.”
“You kidding me?” I crossed the room, grabbed my backpack, and started for the stairs. My parents were going to think the worst—an accident or something equally horrible. Not only that, I had missed my first day at work. Had they called the house?
“Wait up. I’ll walk you home,” he said, following me down the stairs.
I wasn’t waiting. “I’ve got to run.” And with that, I fled out the back door. It took a few minutes, but he caught up with me, handing me a woman’s jacket. “Here. It’s freezing out.” The jacket he handed me was pink. I hated pink, but he was right, the sidewalk gleamed with a coating of frost that sparkled under the yellow streetlights. He had stopped to put on his black jacket with the big silver Tarantula on the back.
“You belonged to the Tarantulas long?” I asked, through chattering teeth. I tried to recall when I’d first noticed him.
“Three years.”
“How come you joined? To be a tough guy?”
He smirked. “If that’s what I wanted, I would’ve stayed solo. Regardless of appearances and show, the Tarantulas are anything but tough. Mostly they’re screwed up. Some are just plain psycho, and a few are like me.”
We walked quickly, our breath hanging in air as we hurried through it. “Describe the few who are like you.”
He shrugged. “Loners mostly. A wannabe gang like the Tarantulas can smell us out. They go after loners. We’re their prey, so to prevent that from happening, we have to have something to offer them.”
I stopped and turned to him. “Explain.”
“You need to have a skill they can use.”
He didn’t seem inclined to offer any details. “And you have such a skill?” I looked at him with fresh eyes, trying to determine what that could be. “Drugs?” I proposed.
He shrugged and started walking again. “And other things.”
At the risk of being overly nosy, I asked: “What other things?” But he was quiet.
We passed the school grounds. The buildings were well lit, but the tall cedars cast deep shadows across the expansive grounds. Instantly, I remembered my morning, the taunts and name-calling. How would I get through another day there?
As if he had read my thoughts, he asked, “You ready for tomorrow?”
“I was thinking about calling work to see if they need anyone for the day shift, but they won’t allow me to work during school hours.”
“What do you do?”
“Work at Elenas. It’s a high-end women’s clothing store in the mall. Just got the job, so my being a no-show tonight could lead to problems and possibly unemployment. Too bad. I really needed the work.”
“That is too bad. You need to do something else for a while, besides go to school.”
I looked across at him in surprise. In the yellow light, his skin looked tanned against his dark hair. “Yeah? Why?”
“You know how these things work. Everybody in the whole school has pegged you as open season. You’re the new target. Give this a rest. Let everyone get over it.”
He was right. I had seen that happen to others. Once you were targeted, you were done. There was no way out. Besides, I had no intention of repeating today. As we approached my house, I considered whether to let him see where I lived. He had shown me where he
“That’s beyond the scope of this high,” I told him thickly. “This is ‘ a high ’, I assume.”
“I might have thought so if you hadn’t started snoring. You go without sleep for the last couple of nights, or what?”
I sat up and looked around. It was dark outside. “Sleep is optional lately. What time is it?” I got up and looked out the window.
“Almost midnight.”
“You kidding me?” I crossed the room, grabbed my backpack, and started for the stairs. My parents were going to think the worst—an accident or something equally horrible. Not only that, I had missed my first day at work. Had they called the house?
“Wait up. I’ll walk you home,” he said, following me down the stairs.
I wasn’t waiting. “I’ve got to run.” And with that, I fled out the back door. It took a few minutes, but he caught up with me, handing me a woman’s jacket. “Here. It’s freezing out.” The jacket he handed me was pink. I hated pink, but he was right, the sidewalk gleamed with a coating of frost that sparkled under the yellow streetlights. He had stopped to put on his black jacket with the big silver Tarantula on the back.
“You belonged to the Tarantulas long?” I asked, through chattering teeth. I tried to recall when I’d first noticed him.
“Three years.”
“How come you joined? To be a tough guy?”
He smirked. “If that’s what I wanted, I would’ve stayed solo. Regardless of appearances and show, the Tarantulas are anything but tough. Mostly they’re screwed up. Some are just plain psycho, and a few are like me.”
We walked quickly, our breath hanging in air as we hurried through it. “Describe the few who are like you.”
He shrugged. “Loners mostly. A wannabe gang like the Tarantulas can smell us out. They go after loners. We’re their prey, so to prevent that from happening, we have to have something to offer them.”
I stopped and turned to him. “Explain.”
“You need to have a skill they can use.”
He didn’t seem inclined to offer any details. “And you have such a skill?” I looked at him with fresh eyes, trying to determine what that could be. “Drugs?” I proposed.
He shrugged and started walking again. “And other things.”
At the risk of being overly nosy, I asked: “What other things?” But he was quiet.
We passed the school grounds. The buildings were well lit, but the tall cedars cast deep shadows across the expansive grounds. Instantly, I remembered my morning, the taunts and name-calling. How would I get through another day there?
As if he had read my thoughts, he asked, “You ready for tomorrow?”
“I was thinking about calling work to see if they need anyone for the day shift, but they won’t allow me to work during school hours.”
“What do you do?”
“Work at Elenas. It’s a high-end women’s clothing store in the mall. Just got the job, so my being a no-show tonight could lead to problems and possibly unemployment. Too bad. I really needed the work.”
“That is too bad. You need to do something else for a while, besides go to school.”
I looked across at him in surprise. In the yellow light, his skin looked tanned against his dark hair. “Yeah? Why?”
“You know how these things work. Everybody in the whole school has pegged you as open season. You’re the new target. Give this a rest. Let everyone get over it.”
He was right. I had seen that happen to others. Once you were targeted, you were done. There was no way out. Besides, I had no intention of repeating today. As we approached my house, I considered whether to let him see where I lived. He had shown me where he
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