Chase by Francine Pascal

light eyes, which were suddenly filled with defiance. She knew that feeling. He was daring her to be sympathetic—daring her to pity him. Oh, how she hated it when people gave her those sorry-ass looks when they heard about her own mother.
    â€œWhat about you?” Jake asked suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest. “What’s your family like?”
    There it was. Ask a person a question and it comes right back to bite you in the ass.
    I don’t think I can answer that one without a graph and a couple of pie charts , Gaia thought, swallowing hard. But Jake was watching her expectantly. She had to say something.
    â€œMy mom died when I was little, too,” Gaia offered, hoping that sharing this one piece of information might at least take that sorrowful-yet-hard look out of Jake’s eyes.
    â€œReally?” Jake asked. “How?”
    â€œIt was an accident,” Gaia replied quickly. Now it was her turn to become entranced by her plate.
    â€œYou know what sucks?” Jake said.
    This conversation? Gaia thought. “What?”
    â€œThe fact that everyone always says they understandhow you feel about it but they never can,” Jake said. “No one ever can.”
    Gaia’s heart pounded painfully in her chest, and she looked up into Jake’s eyes. In that one moment there was a connection that even Gaia couldn’t deny. She knew something about him that no one else could come close to knowing and he about her. And the really strange thing was, it didn’t bother her. It was as if Jake was looking right through her carefully woven exterior directly into her emotions, and she didn’t even mind. She actually felt kind of . . . free.
    â€œExactly,” Gaia said quietly. “I know exactly what you mean.”
    No Harm
    â€œHEY, RED! LOOKIN’ HOT!”
    Tatiana tilted her head to the side so that the red curls fell between her face and the Neanderthal who was catcalling to her from the doorway to the twenty-four-hour Dunkin’ Donuts around the corner from the Village School. This whole wig thing was turning out to be an interesting sociological experiment. That was the third guy who’d come on to her since she’d left the safe house twenty minutes ago. Maybe blonds had more fun, but redheads definitely attracted more moronic come-ons.
    She rounded the corner, grabbed the red curls on either side of her head, and yanked down on the wig, fitting it more snugly against her skull. It was dark out now, and if anyone saw her approaching the school, there was no way they would recognize her with the mass of hair shielding her face. Still, she wanted to get this over and done with.
    The front door was always unlocked, even this late, so that overachieving teachers could come and go. The janitors were also at work inside somewhere, but Tatiana was sure very few people were left. It was her only chance to get in and out undetected.
    She opened and closed the heavy metal door as quietly as possible, producing only a tiny click as it shut. She crept up the stairs and peeked around the corner to the main hall, left, then right. Every other fluorescent light was illuminated, casting an eerie glow over the deserted hallway. Tatiana took a deep breath and walked quickly, silently to the stairwell.
    When she opened the door to the second floor, she heard movement and hushed voices to her left and paused. Damn kiss-ass teachers. How much money could they possibly be getting paid? Certainly not enough to keep them here this late. She trained her ear on the sounds and relaxed. They were definitely coming from the front hall—the opposite direction of whereshe had to go. She slipped out of the stairwell and slid along the wall this time, ready to duck into a classroom if anyone happened to decide on a bathroom run.
    Jake’s locker was at the end of a row, directly across from another stairwell. Tatiana pulled the folded note out of her jacket pocket