Cat (Wildflowers 4)

infection; it buzzes around in your head and your

heart. I tossed and turned and fretted through

nightmares for nights after that and I couldn't face the

other girls at school. I knew they were talking about

me, spreading stories, exaggerating, claiming I had

gotten drunk and exposed myself in front of the boys

and embarrassed them. Kelly avoided me and I felt

even worse because of the way some of the other girls

were now looking at me."

r /> "Why would they lie about her like that?" Misty

asked Jade.

"To protect themselves in case she did tell

someone the truth. Right?" Jade asked Star.

"Sounds like it. I would have pulled out their

tongues at that point," Star said.

"It would only make them look right," Jade

asserted.

"Maybe because of the way things were at

school, my nightmares continued. I had no appetite at

dinner, but I had to force myself to eat so my mother wouldn't ask any questions. The hardest thing was she kept asking me about Kelly's parents, the house, things they said, and I had to make up as much as I could. I got away with it because I told my mother I had followed her directions and not asked too many questions. I kept thinking, Soon, soon she's going to realize I'm lying and the whole horrible thing will

come out.

"That gave me even more nightmares. Many

nights I would find myself awake, practically sitting

up, listening to the scream die in my throat. In dreams

I felt spiders crawling over me, dozens and dozens of

them. They covered my breasts and reached as high as

my chin.

"When I was a little girl and I had bad dreams,

my mother would sometimes come to see me, but she

never held me or kissed me. Instead, she tried to teach