Read Online Terrorscape by Nenia Campbell - Free Book Online

Tell me you are.”
    “Going where?”
“Hello? To the par tay .”
“It's open dorm.”
“You know what I mean.”
    Yes. She knew what Mary meant. Mary wanted
her to get involved. To actively party. Verb, instead of
noun. Just the thought made her feel ill.
“Who has a party on a Thursday night, anyway?”
    “People
who
don't
schedule
Friday
classes.
Thursday is the new Friday, girlfriend. Get with the
program.”
    Val bristled. Just because she wanted to graduate
on time, and didn't need weekly three-day weekends,
Mary was implying that she was some kind of shutin…
Well, aren't you?
    That made her train of thought pull to a full stop. I didn't use to be.
    “Look, Val, I wasn't going to say anything, but
seriously, you need to get out there. You're always here
whenever I come home unless you're at school or
something and then you just come right back. You
never go any where.”
“Not always—”
    “Yes, always. All I see you do is study, but you
can't live like that. You'll burn out. You need to have
fun, girl. You need to live , or life will pass you on by.”
    But how could you live when you were dead
inside? When the spark of life inside you had all but
burned to ash, what did you do? Subsist on fumes
until spent? She was already spent.
She felt like an old woman trapped in a young
girl's body.
    Realizing Mary was right made her feel doubly
hopeless. She may not have always been a shut-in, but
she certainly fit the bill now. So why even bother?
I could say I really do have to study .
    Mary would accept that, trying one or two more
times to persuade her before giving up entirely.
Yes, she could easily do that—but it would be the
beginning of a wedge between her and Mary. That's
how it started: a series of small hurts and excuses
between two people that built up slowly, widening
over time to form a vast and yawning divide.
    A year was a long time to be alone.
And that would be letting him win.
Val bit her lip. “Fine. I'll…make an appearance.”
    She winced as Mary threw her bejeweled arms
around her neck in a huge, suffocating hug. “Great!
We'll have so much fun, it's going to be just great.
You'll see.”
Val flinched.
    How could people show affection so easily? How
could they open themselves up to hurt so recklessly,
with such careless disregard for their hearts?
    Lisa used to do things like that, back when we were
still friends . Val felt the prick of tears in her eyes. Back
when she didn't hate me .
    She sagged against Mary, who stepped back. A
look of concern passed over her broad, friendly
features, and her lips pursed. “Val? Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, fine.” She forced a smile she didn't feel at
all. “You're right. It's going to be great.”
She found herself saying that a lot, lately.
Maybe one day, she would even come to mean it.
Chapter Five
Viscaria
    Six hours later, Val was remembering why she
had never liked going to parties. They were awkward.
Almost unbearably so. Talking to people you didn't
know, fending off drunken advances, or worse—
being ignored entirely.
Fun.
    She had never been blessed in the social skills
department, and the events that had transpired over
the last couple years had none nothing to alleviate the
unease she felt when in crowds.
    Socializing tended to be the last thing on people's
minds when they blamed you for the death of the
town's golden boy.
    She had gone out with him because she had seen
no other means of escape. Now it seemed like he was
her cross to bear for all eternity.
You're not supposed to think about that. Not tonight.
    There was a drink in her hand. She couldn't
remember how it had gotten there and looked at it
with some surprise. Beer. I don't drink beer .
    Had somebody given it to her?
She tossed the can aside, cautionary tales about
date rape ringing in her ears, and heard it splash.
Someone cursed, and Val quickly made herself scarce.
    Then she remembered that she had been on her
way to use the bathroom, but then she had found the
empty