Private (Private 1)
Page 126
I pushed open the door to our room and we both stopped in our
Had they gotten me expelled somehow? Would they really go that far tracks. My entire half of the room was bare. No books, no posters, just because I had forgiven Thomas? Could they really go that far?
no sheets, no pillows, no soccer ball. Nothing.
A huge knot formed in my stomach. I was going to be sick.
224
K A T E B R I A N
My life at Easton was over. My hopes, my dreams, my future.
Everything. Gone.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Constance asked.
“No. Stay with your parents,” I said, somehow finding lucid
thoughts. “I’ll . . . I’ll be back.”
WELCOME TO BILLINGS
I hope.
I staggered down the hall and rushed down the stairs on weakened knees, nearly upending myself at least three times. Outside, the sun blinded me and I paused for a second, disoriented. Where was I going?
I had to talk to someone, but who? How could I possibly fix this?
The moment I stepped into Billings, my first instinct was to run.
Just then, my cell phone rang, scaring the life right out of me.
Fourteen girls stood in the foyer, forming a semicircle with Noelle My hands quaking, I fumbled the tiny phone out of my pocket and right at the center. With the curtains drawn, the room was cast in checked the caller ID. Restricted number. I hit the talk button, shadow. Candles flickered on the mantle and every other available having no clue who it was or even who I wanted it to be.
surface. Each of the girls held a black candle before her with both
“Hello?”
hands. I paused near the door, uncertain. Was this some kind of
“What’re you doing out there all by yourself, glass-licker?”
sacrificial ritual? Kill the new girl to expunge the shame she has My heart slammed into my ribcage. I whirled around and looked
brought upon them?
up at Billings. Heavy curtains were drawn over each and every win-Noelle stepped forward. She handed me an unlit candle, took
dow save for one. There, in the center pane, was Noelle gazing down my arm in her iron grip, and led me to the center of the room. The at me. She smiled slowly and I felt an overwhelming chill of fear.
girls closed into a tight circle around us, the flickering light
“If you want to know where your stuff is, you better get in here.
contorting their faces.
Now.”