weeks.”
“Stace’ll be fine. Look, I wasn’t going to say anything until her birthday next week, but my supervisor at Chang’s said she can start on the buss crew as soon as she’s eighteen.”
“Oh, my god, Lisa. That’s fantastic,” I said. “She’s going to be so jazzed.”
“She’ll be too exhausted to get into trouble, believe me,” Lisa said. “And Frank can stay at the house while you’re gone. We’ll both keep an eye on her.”
Lisa made good money at the restaurant. She’d offered to get me a job there, and I’d been tempted, but I never wanted to leave Stacey alone at night.
“Where is the internship, anyway?” I asked Brad as we reached the grassy quad. “Unless it’s close enough to drive, I can’t go either.” I definitely couldn’t afford a plane ticket.
“It’s at Dr. Barton’s dig,” he said. “Up past Foresthill.”
“Oh, god.” Lisa’s eyes grew large. “God, Nora.”
Foresthill. My hands started shaking. It’s like they had lives of their own, separate from the rest of my body. Sweat beaded at my temples. The heat was suddenly so oppressive I couldn’t breathe.
“It’s an archeological site.” Brad looked at me quizzically. “They’re studying artifacts in the caves up there. Nora, are you all right?”
The packet fell from my hand. Foresthill. The smell of wet dirt and pine needles invaded my brain, and the sky went dark. Someone screamed. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to kill somebody.
Lisa and Brad both reached for me as I pitched forward.
“It’s okay,” I said as they steadied me by my elbows. My hands kept going to fists, and I kept spreading my fingers to keep them from clenching. “It’s okay.”
I gulped at the air and drew it down deep into my lungs, the way the therapist taught me years ago. I blew the fear and the evil out and away from me. The sunny sky returned. The pounding of my heart slowed. My hands became my own again.
“You should sit down,” Lisa said.
“No,” I said. I avoided Brad’s questioning look. “Walking it off helps. I’m going to go tell Dr. Barton right now I can’t do it. He’ll need time to find someone else. I’d better grab him before he leaves campus. Just wait here for me, and we’ll go for the keg as soon as I get back.”
I was babbling, and they both stared at me like I wasn’t making sense.
“I’m fine.” I picked up my backpack from the ground. “Lisa, give me your dig packet. I’ll take it back too.”
“Take your time,” Brad said. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll give Lisa a ride home, and we can pick up the food and the keg on the way. You do what you have to do, but take it easy.”
“Call if you don’t feel like you can drive,” Lisa said.
“Absolutely,” Brad said. “If you need a ride, we’ll come back and get you.”
“Thanks guys,” I said. “I’m really okay. I’ll see you later.”
They went on to the parking lot, and I turned back to the campus. I almost cried with relief that Brad hadn’t asked any questions. The people in my life these days didn’t know about my past. I wanted to keep it that way.
Chapter 2
I wasn’t okay. I headed back to the humanities building feeling like an idiot. I hadn’t had a flashback like that in ages. Years. It caught me off guard, hearing the name of that town out of the blue. I felt like a sack of frayed nerves, and my fists were clenched again. I stretched and spread my fingers.
I focused on something I had no emotion attached to. Jane Marks, Jane Marks, Jane Marks. I repeated the name of the professor’s TA over and over in my head, visualizing her no-nonsense, mundane, completely nonthreatening competence. Then I proceeded to plow right into her as I came out of the elevator on the second floor.
“Heads up, kiddo.” She stepped aside without breaking her pace and slipped into the elevator as the doors were closing. “See you at the dig.”
A knifing pain sliced into my heart. My mom used
“Stace’ll be fine. Look, I wasn’t going to say anything until her birthday next week, but my supervisor at Chang’s said she can start on the buss crew as soon as she’s eighteen.”
“Oh, my god, Lisa. That’s fantastic,” I said. “She’s going to be so jazzed.”
“She’ll be too exhausted to get into trouble, believe me,” Lisa said. “And Frank can stay at the house while you’re gone. We’ll both keep an eye on her.”
Lisa made good money at the restaurant. She’d offered to get me a job there, and I’d been tempted, but I never wanted to leave Stacey alone at night.
“Where is the internship, anyway?” I asked Brad as we reached the grassy quad. “Unless it’s close enough to drive, I can’t go either.” I definitely couldn’t afford a plane ticket.
“It’s at Dr. Barton’s dig,” he said. “Up past Foresthill.”
“Oh, god.” Lisa’s eyes grew large. “God, Nora.”
Foresthill. My hands started shaking. It’s like they had lives of their own, separate from the rest of my body. Sweat beaded at my temples. The heat was suddenly so oppressive I couldn’t breathe.
“It’s an archeological site.” Brad looked at me quizzically. “They’re studying artifacts in the caves up there. Nora, are you all right?”
The packet fell from my hand. Foresthill. The smell of wet dirt and pine needles invaded my brain, and the sky went dark. Someone screamed. I wanted to hit something. I wanted to kill somebody.
Lisa and Brad both reached for me as I pitched forward.
“It’s okay,” I said as they steadied me by my elbows. My hands kept going to fists, and I kept spreading my fingers to keep them from clenching. “It’s okay.”
I gulped at the air and drew it down deep into my lungs, the way the therapist taught me years ago. I blew the fear and the evil out and away from me. The sunny sky returned. The pounding of my heart slowed. My hands became my own again.
“You should sit down,” Lisa said.
“No,” I said. I avoided Brad’s questioning look. “Walking it off helps. I’m going to go tell Dr. Barton right now I can’t do it. He’ll need time to find someone else. I’d better grab him before he leaves campus. Just wait here for me, and we’ll go for the keg as soon as I get back.”
I was babbling, and they both stared at me like I wasn’t making sense.
“I’m fine.” I picked up my backpack from the ground. “Lisa, give me your dig packet. I’ll take it back too.”
“Take your time,” Brad said. “Don’t worry about anything. I’ll give Lisa a ride home, and we can pick up the food and the keg on the way. You do what you have to do, but take it easy.”
“Call if you don’t feel like you can drive,” Lisa said.
“Absolutely,” Brad said. “If you need a ride, we’ll come back and get you.”
“Thanks guys,” I said. “I’m really okay. I’ll see you later.”
They went on to the parking lot, and I turned back to the campus. I almost cried with relief that Brad hadn’t asked any questions. The people in my life these days didn’t know about my past. I wanted to keep it that way.
Chapter 2
I wasn’t okay. I headed back to the humanities building feeling like an idiot. I hadn’t had a flashback like that in ages. Years. It caught me off guard, hearing the name of that town out of the blue. I felt like a sack of frayed nerves, and my fists were clenched again. I stretched and spread my fingers.
I focused on something I had no emotion attached to. Jane Marks, Jane Marks, Jane Marks. I repeated the name of the professor’s TA over and over in my head, visualizing her no-nonsense, mundane, completely nonthreatening competence. Then I proceeded to plow right into her as I came out of the elevator on the second floor.
“Heads up, kiddo.” She stepped aside without breaking her pace and slipped into the elevator as the doors were closing. “See you at the dig.”
A knifing pain sliced into my heart. My mom used
Similar Books
