"My second time." Miranda pul ed her hair up and bunched it on top of her head. "Though I don't know why they want me to come back, it's not like it helped me the first time."
Kylie stopped trying to mental y write the text and met the girl's hazel eyes-eyes that hadn't changed colors once-and curiosity had Kylie almost stuttering. "What ... what's it like? The camp, I mean. Tel me it's not too bad."
"It's not terrible." She released her hair and it fel into waves of black, lime green, and pink around her head. Then she glanced to the back of the bus where the pale chick now sat up and leaned forward as if listening. "If you don't mind the sight of blood," she whispered. Kylie chuckled, hoping beyond hope that Miranda would, too. But nope. Miranda didn't even smile.
"You're joking, right?" Kylie's heart did a cartwheel in her chest.
"No," she said in a completely unjoking manner. "But I'm probably exaggerating."
A loud clearing of a throat echoed in the bus. Kylie looked up to the front to where the bus driver stared into the big mirror. Oddly, Kylie felt as if she stared right at Miranda and her.
"Stop that," Miranda hissed in a low voice, and clapped her hands over her ears. "I didn't invite you in."
"Stop what?" Kylie asked, but the girl's odd behavior had Kylie shifting farther away. "Invite me where?"
Miranda didn't answer; she frowned up at the front of the bus and then bounced back into her seat. That's when Kylie realized she'd been wrong. Wrong about the fact that it couldn't get any weirder. It could, and it did.
Not terrible. If you don't mind the sight of blood. Miranda's words played like scary music in Kylie's head. Okay, the girl admitted to exaggerating things, but come on, losing even a little blood was too much. What kind of hellhole had her mother sent her to? she asked herself for what was probably the hundredth time since she'd gotten on the bus.
Right then Kylie's phone buzzed with an incoming text. Sara again. Please don't tell me ... u told me so. Kylie pushed her own problems aside to think about her best friend. They may have had a rough few months, but they had been best friends since fifth grade. Sara needed her.
Kylie started texting. OMG, wouldn't say that. Don't no what 2 say. R U OK?? Do ur parents no? Do you no who the father is? Kylie deleted the last question. Of course Sara knew who the father was. It had to be one of three guys, right? Unless Sara hadn't been honest about what she'd done on the dates with her two last guys.
Oh, God, Kylie's heart went out to her best friend. Even considering Kylie's terrible circumstances of her parents' divorce, Nana's death, and being sent to "bloody" Shadow Fal s Camp with some very strange people, Sara had it worse.
In two months, no matter how bad things were, Kylie would go home. By then, she'd hopeful y have gotten over the shock of losing her dad, and Nana. And maybe over the summer, Soldier Dude would lose interest in her and disappear permanently. But in two months, Sara would have a bel y the size of a basketbal .
Right then, Kylie wondered if Sara would even go back to school. God, Sara would be so embarrassed. To Sara, fitting in was ... everything. If blue eye shadow was the rave, you can bet Sara would have blue eye shadow before the week was out. Heck, she'd missed nearly a week of school when she got a big pimple on the end of her nose. Not that Kylie liked going to school with a big zit, but duh, everyone got a pimple every now and then.
But not everyone got pregnant.
Kylie could only imagine what Sara was going through.
Kylie reread her text, added a little heart, and hit send. As she waited for Sara to text back, Kylie realized she'd never been happier than right now that she hadn't given in to Trey.
* * *
"Ten minutes for bathroom breaks," the bus driver said.
Kylie looked up from the phone to the convenience store. She didn't have to go, but considering she wasn't exactly sure how much longer the ride would be, she dropped her phone in her purse and stood up in the aisle to fol ow the others off the bus. She'd taken two steps when someone wrapped a hand around her arm. A very cold hand. Kylie jumped and swung around. The pale girl stared at her. Or at least she assumed she stared at her. With her almost-black sunglasses, Kylie couldn't be sure.
"You're warm," she said as if surprised.
Kylie pul ed her arm away. "And you're cold."
"Nine minutes," said the bus driver firmly, and motioned Kylie forward.
She turned around and walked out of the bus, but she felt Pale Girl's stare bore into the back of her. Freaks. She was stuck with freaks al summer. Cold freaks. She touched her arm where the girl had held her and could swear she stil felt the chil . Five minutes later, bladder empty, she started back to the bus and saw a couple of the other kids paying for drinks. Goth Girl looked over at her from the front of the line. Then the boy with al the piercing who'd sat at the front of the bus walked past Kylie without saying a word. Deciding to grab some gum, she found her favorite grape flavor and went to stand in line. When she felt someone step behind her, she looked back to see if it was Pale Girl again. Nope, it was the boy from the back of the bus, the one with soft green eyes and brown hair. The one who reminded her of Trey. Their gazes met.
And held.
She wasn't sure why he reminded her of Trey. Sure, their eyes were similar but it was more than that. Maybe it was the way his shirt fit across his shoulders, and the certain air of ... distance. Trey hadn't been the easiest person to get to know. If they hadn't been assigned as lab partners in science class, she didn't know if they'd ever have gone out.
Yup, something about this guy seemed hard to get to know, too. Especial y when he didn't even speak. She started to swing back around when he raised his eyebrows in some kind of weak greeting. Taking his lead, she raised her own brows at him and then turned around. When she faced forward, she saw Miranda and Pale Girl talking by the door and they were both looking right at her. So, they were now ganging up on her, were they?
"Great," she muttered.
"They're just curious," the deep voice whispered so close to her ear that she felt the warmth of his words against her neck. She looked over her shoulder at him. This close, she could real y see his eyes, and she realized she'd been wrong. These weren't Trey's eyes. This guy had flecks of gold around his pupils.