Girls That Growl by Mari Mancusi Page B
Authors: Mari Mancusi
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Girls & Women
Ads: Link
End button and toss the phone onto the seat. A second later it starts ringing again. I reach for the ra-dio and turn it up full blast, allowing Morrissey's crooning to drown out the ringtone.
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When I look up from the radio, I see the other car for the first time, coming out of nowhere, headlights blinding me. I have a split second to realize I must have swerved into the wrong lane while turning on the radio. I spin the wheel. Un-fortunately, I end up spinning it right into a guardrail.
The car slams into the barrier. I'm thrown forward. The air bag goes off with a poof, slamming into my face. A mo-ment later I swim into blackness.
+++
"Rayne, Rayne! Wake up!"
"Mmmm," I moan. "Five more minutes, Mom." "It's Jareth, not your mom. And you've been in a car accident."
I open my eyes, suddenly remembering my close en-counter of the guardrail kind. I'm sitting in the driver's seat still, an inflated air bag pushing into my chest. Jareth is outside the car, peering in with a concerned expression on his face.
"Don't say I told you so," I mutter as I crawl out of the vehicle. I take a look at my car. The hood's crumpled and there's smoke coming out of the engine. Great. Mom's going to kill me.So's Sunny, considering we share this car.
"Rayne, are you crazy?" Jareth demands. "Did you hit your head too hard? Why would I say I told you so? I'm just glad you're okay!"
I roll my eyes. "I'm a vampire, remember? I can't die. And look, my injuries are already half healed." I gesture to the bloody cuts on my arm, sealing up before my eyes. Way cool. I should try skydiving next.
Or some other extreme sport.
"I know, but . . ." Jareth stares at me, looking helpless and upset. Part of me wants to go over and hug him, but the other part, the angry, bitter, hates-the-world part, doesn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"I'm fine. What I'd like to do is go to England now."
"But you've just been in an accident. We need to get you to a doctor or something."
"I'm fine!" I repeat. "Stop smothering me!"
Jareth takes a step back, as if he's been slapped. He stares at me, then shakes his head. "You know, Rayne," he says, "sometimes when people first become vampires they don't adjust smoothly. It takes some time and counseling to get used to their new existences. We have a great coven doctor who specializes at making transformations smoother—"
"You want me to go to see a shrink?" I cry.
"Well, we don't really call them that in the vampire world, but—"
"You do. You think I'm crazy!"
"No. I think you're angry. Angry enough to put yourself in a situation where you could get seriously hurt."
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"For the last time, I'm a vampire! I can't get hurt. Can you get that through your thick skull? And secondly, for your information, I have plenty of reasons to be mad."
"I'm sure you do," Jareth says, reaching over to stroke my cheek. "But that doesn't mean you want to live your life likethis."
Iwhack his hand away. "Maybe I do, okay? What are you going to do about it?"
The anger inside of me is building to frightening propor-tions. I just want to lash out and hurt someone, but there's no one who deserves my wrath. So I slam my fist into my car. Then kick it with my boot. I may not have vampire strength, but I still manage a few satisfying dents. I keep kicking, chan-neling all my hatred into my Volkswagen Bug.
"This is for you, Mandy! You self-centered bitch!" I bel-low as I kick. "And this is for you, Mom! How dare you side with David over me! And David! You're not my dad, you bastard! And this is for—"
"Rayne! Stop it! Just stop it now!" Jareth cries. "Destroy-ing your car is not going to help things!"
What does he know? It's helping a lot. And he should be grateful I'm not kicking his ass instead.
He grabs me. I kick and scream, but he's too strong for me to escape. He may not have
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
When I look up from the radio, I see the other car for the first time, coming out of nowhere, headlights blinding me. I have a split second to realize I must have swerved into the wrong lane while turning on the radio. I spin the wheel. Un-fortunately, I end up spinning it right into a guardrail.
The car slams into the barrier. I'm thrown forward. The air bag goes off with a poof, slamming into my face. A mo-ment later I swim into blackness.
+++
"Rayne, Rayne! Wake up!"
"Mmmm," I moan. "Five more minutes, Mom." "It's Jareth, not your mom. And you've been in a car accident."
I open my eyes, suddenly remembering my close en-counter of the guardrail kind. I'm sitting in the driver's seat still, an inflated air bag pushing into my chest. Jareth is outside the car, peering in with a concerned expression on his face.
"Don't say I told you so," I mutter as I crawl out of the vehicle. I take a look at my car. The hood's crumpled and there's smoke coming out of the engine. Great. Mom's going to kill me.So's Sunny, considering we share this car.
"Rayne, are you crazy?" Jareth demands. "Did you hit your head too hard? Why would I say I told you so? I'm just glad you're okay!"
I roll my eyes. "I'm a vampire, remember? I can't die. And look, my injuries are already half healed." I gesture to the bloody cuts on my arm, sealing up before my eyes. Way cool. I should try skydiving next.
Or some other extreme sport.
"I know, but . . ." Jareth stares at me, looking helpless and upset. Part of me wants to go over and hug him, but the other part, the angry, bitter, hates-the-world part, doesn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"I'm fine. What I'd like to do is go to England now."
"But you've just been in an accident. We need to get you to a doctor or something."
"I'm fine!" I repeat. "Stop smothering me!"
Jareth takes a step back, as if he's been slapped. He stares at me, then shakes his head. "You know, Rayne," he says, "sometimes when people first become vampires they don't adjust smoothly. It takes some time and counseling to get used to their new existences. We have a great coven doctor who specializes at making transformations smoother—"
"You want me to go to see a shrink?" I cry.
"Well, we don't really call them that in the vampire world, but—"
"You do. You think I'm crazy!"
"No. I think you're angry. Angry enough to put yourself in a situation where you could get seriously hurt."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"For the last time, I'm a vampire! I can't get hurt. Can you get that through your thick skull? And secondly, for your information, I have plenty of reasons to be mad."
"I'm sure you do," Jareth says, reaching over to stroke my cheek. "But that doesn't mean you want to live your life likethis."
Iwhack his hand away. "Maybe I do, okay? What are you going to do about it?"
The anger inside of me is building to frightening propor-tions. I just want to lash out and hurt someone, but there's no one who deserves my wrath. So I slam my fist into my car. Then kick it with my boot. I may not have vampire strength, but I still manage a few satisfying dents. I keep kicking, chan-neling all my hatred into my Volkswagen Bug.
"This is for you, Mandy! You self-centered bitch!" I bel-low as I kick. "And this is for you, Mom! How dare you side with David over me! And David! You're not my dad, you bastard! And this is for—"
"Rayne! Stop it! Just stop it now!" Jareth cries. "Destroy-ing your car is not going to help things!"
What does he know? It's helping a lot. And he should be grateful I'm not kicking his ass instead.
He grabs me. I kick and scream, but he's too strong for me to escape. He may not have
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