It’s because they kill people. Kill them and use their blood to keep their corpses from rotting!” He’s talking so fast and so whispered that his face gets flushed.
“Yeah? Then how come they don’t kill you? If you know so much, wouldn’t they want to?” I ask.
“Everybody knows! Don’t you get it?” he growls, trying to keep his voice from being heard but also trying to sound fierce. “Only nobody talks about it. Not even me . . . not to anybody but you.”
“Oh, lucky me,” I say sarcastically and shuffle my booksand chair to inch away from him.
Lukas moves his chair, too. Moves closer. Cupping his hand around my ear and whispering so that his words are warm and wet. “They’re going to make you like that,” he says. “They’re going to make it so you have to kill, too.”
I push him away and put my hands up to my ears to let him know how ridiculous he sounds. His eyes are crazy. Eyes like angry dogs barking behind fences to keep people out. Eyes like the kind of people he’s trying to warn me against.
He reaches over and pulls my hand away.
I’m no longer playing when I struggle free. “Get off of me!” I tell him.
“Look at them!” he says, keeping his fingers wrapped around my wrist as I try to pull away. “Look in their eyes. They’re not like us.”
“You’re crazy,” I tell him once I finally peel his hands off my arm. Little white marks still there to outline where he held on. “Nobody’s killing anybody! This town’s empty because it sucks. There’s nothing to do and no place to work. That’s why people move, not because they’re being stalked by imaginary creatures. And that’s why I’m going to try out . . . because I’m bored!”
All the faces at the tables on both sides are turned to face us when I’m done shouting. The teacher’s aide assigned to the lunchroom is staring at us from across the room. Watching as I rub my arm and wondering if she needs to get involved. I hear the girls next to me whispering. “Jesus! He’s such a freak,” they say. Lukas hears them, too, but doesn’t let it break his concentration. Doesn’t take his eyes from mine.Stares so intensely that it scares me.
I’m not sure what to do as I see the corners of his eyes get bloodshot. See them blur up and I know I’ve hurt him pretty bad. I didn’t mean to. Not after he’s been the only person nice enough to get to know me. But there’s a reason no one talks to him. Maybe he really is a freak. I didn’t think so, but I’m starting to wonder because I know now that he honestly believes what he’s telling me.
“Forget it,” he says. “All of it, it doesn’t matter. Try out and have fun. I hope you make it. At least then I’ll never have to see you again.”
He grabs his backpack off the floor and stands up.
“Lukas! Wait!” I plead.
But he doesn’t stop and I watch him fade into the crowd. Watch my only friend in Maplecrest disappear from my life. I fold my arms on the table and hide my head in the crease of my elbow, wondering why every boy I ever meet turns out to be a creep.
I won’t let him change my mind, though. I’m going to see the cheerleading coach as soon as lunch is over. It’s the only way I’ll ever be able to make any sane friends here.
I’ll show him, too. I won’t change even if I do make the squad. Maybe then he’ll realize how insane he’s being.
Have you ever cheered before?” Mrs. Donner asks me as I stand in front of her desk, shuffling my feet and looking for the proper place to put my hands. I stick them in my pockets but they feel uncomfortably tight and so I pull them out again. Hide them behind my back and twist thefingers of my left hand with the fingers of my right hand the same way my dad showed me to do with paper before making a fire in the fireplace and give myself small Indian burns as I think about the question of having ever cheered before.
“Not exactly,” is the answer I settle on.
Mrs. Donner lets her
“Yeah? Then how come they don’t kill you? If you know so much, wouldn’t they want to?” I ask.
“Everybody knows! Don’t you get it?” he growls, trying to keep his voice from being heard but also trying to sound fierce. “Only nobody talks about it. Not even me . . . not to anybody but you.”
“Oh, lucky me,” I say sarcastically and shuffle my booksand chair to inch away from him.
Lukas moves his chair, too. Moves closer. Cupping his hand around my ear and whispering so that his words are warm and wet. “They’re going to make you like that,” he says. “They’re going to make it so you have to kill, too.”
I push him away and put my hands up to my ears to let him know how ridiculous he sounds. His eyes are crazy. Eyes like angry dogs barking behind fences to keep people out. Eyes like the kind of people he’s trying to warn me against.
He reaches over and pulls my hand away.
I’m no longer playing when I struggle free. “Get off of me!” I tell him.
“Look at them!” he says, keeping his fingers wrapped around my wrist as I try to pull away. “Look in their eyes. They’re not like us.”
“You’re crazy,” I tell him once I finally peel his hands off my arm. Little white marks still there to outline where he held on. “Nobody’s killing anybody! This town’s empty because it sucks. There’s nothing to do and no place to work. That’s why people move, not because they’re being stalked by imaginary creatures. And that’s why I’m going to try out . . . because I’m bored!”
All the faces at the tables on both sides are turned to face us when I’m done shouting. The teacher’s aide assigned to the lunchroom is staring at us from across the room. Watching as I rub my arm and wondering if she needs to get involved. I hear the girls next to me whispering. “Jesus! He’s such a freak,” they say. Lukas hears them, too, but doesn’t let it break his concentration. Doesn’t take his eyes from mine.Stares so intensely that it scares me.
I’m not sure what to do as I see the corners of his eyes get bloodshot. See them blur up and I know I’ve hurt him pretty bad. I didn’t mean to. Not after he’s been the only person nice enough to get to know me. But there’s a reason no one talks to him. Maybe he really is a freak. I didn’t think so, but I’m starting to wonder because I know now that he honestly believes what he’s telling me.
“Forget it,” he says. “All of it, it doesn’t matter. Try out and have fun. I hope you make it. At least then I’ll never have to see you again.”
He grabs his backpack off the floor and stands up.
“Lukas! Wait!” I plead.
But he doesn’t stop and I watch him fade into the crowd. Watch my only friend in Maplecrest disappear from my life. I fold my arms on the table and hide my head in the crease of my elbow, wondering why every boy I ever meet turns out to be a creep.
I won’t let him change my mind, though. I’m going to see the cheerleading coach as soon as lunch is over. It’s the only way I’ll ever be able to make any sane friends here.
I’ll show him, too. I won’t change even if I do make the squad. Maybe then he’ll realize how insane he’s being.
Have you ever cheered before?” Mrs. Donner asks me as I stand in front of her desk, shuffling my feet and looking for the proper place to put my hands. I stick them in my pockets but they feel uncomfortably tight and so I pull them out again. Hide them behind my back and twist thefingers of my left hand with the fingers of my right hand the same way my dad showed me to do with paper before making a fire in the fireplace and give myself small Indian burns as I think about the question of having ever cheered before.
“Not exactly,” is the answer I settle on.
Mrs. Donner lets her
Similar Books
