Page 12 of Fight or Flight

So much for using handles.

Bigfan216: No worries, but let’s stick to using handles. Who knows what that creep is gonna do?

WHS524: That’s enough. You wait, all of you!

He logged off then. Unsure if she should take his words as a threat, Katherine decided she would block him if he continued his insults.

Katherine wanted to steer the conversation away from that creep and lighten the mood.

Bigfan216: Frig him. He’s outta here! I wanna talk about BOOKS!

klcLUV/007: I’m readingFrankensteinagain!

Bigfan216: Creepy!

SKRfan4evr: Saw that old movie once! Never read the book.

Blondebookbabe: Hey chickies!! What’s happenin’ ???

HotandCool: We’re talking about books!

klcLUV//16: I’m readingFrankenstein, BOO!

Blondebookbabe: Awesome. I read that last year. Saw the movie too.

Bigfan216: Don’t like horror books or movies.

That was true. It was probably the only time she’d been completely honest since forming the page a few years ago. For some reason, she felt comfortable among these girls. She’d had fans come and go, but this group seemed tight, like they’d cover one another’s backs if need be—a real-life group of Girls with Unusual Powers.

SKRfan4evr: I’ll scope it out next library visit. I’ll kill myself if we don’t get the next GWUP soon!!!

klcLUV/007: Don’t say that! We’d miss you here.

SKRfan4evr: Duh, it’s a figure of speech.

klcLUV/007: You never know. Suicides happen.

SKRfan4evr: Frig that! I’m not suicidal. I’m “dying” for the next book in the series. Geez!!!

klcLUV/007: Sorry, I lost someone I cared about that way. I’m PARANOID!!!!

Katherine felt terrible for Karrie, but a discussion about suicide wasn’t something she thought appropriate, at least not on this forum. It should be discussed at school or with their parents. They were young girls—at least, she hoped they were. Possibly some were vulnerable, so she felt the topic needed to go in another direction.

Bigfan216: Sorry, this topic is too morbid for me. What about boys?!?!?

HotandCool: My fav! Except for GWUP!

Blondebookbabe: Me too. I’ve met the hottest senior! OMG, he’s to die for. Oops! Sorry about that.

SKRfan4evr: how hot is hottest?!

Blondebookbabe: all the way hot!

Katherine couldn’t help but laugh. These girls were fun; she’d bet they were a little wild. She liked them, and it didn’t matter that they were only names on her computer screen. She felt like they were her friends. She would make sure to check in several times daily. Katherine worried about Karrie; with her mother gone and having lost a friend to suicide, she truly did need someone to confide in. Deciding the current subject matter was better left to teenagers, she logged off and would check in later.

What a sad life, Katherine thought after she’d closed the app. Depending on the Internet for everything wasn’t the life she’d planned, yet here she was, alone in a mansion. Of course she knew things could change if she tried working through her fears. She remembered reading a book about it:Feel the Fear and Just Go for It. Maybe it was time to take all the advice she’d gathered throughout the years and put it to use. She needed to learn Sam and Sophie’s stomping grounds, literally. After last night, it made sense. Katherine couldn’t imagine her life without them. They’d helped her in so many ways. She owed it to them to protect them as best she could.

With that thought in mind, she closed the laptop and hurried upstairs to her room. Inside her closet, she found a pair of sneakers that had to be at least a decade old, though they looked fairly new. White Nikes. She remembered buying them in Boston. She’d kept them in her locker at the gym. She would work out almost daily, feeling a rush of endorphins afterward. If only she could do that now. With all the property she owned, it would take a lot of running to familiarize herself with her land, and she’d for sure wear out her sneakers. Just thinking about it made her feel jumpy and on edge, though oddly enough, she had no anxiety. Before she lost this sudden surge of confidence, she slid her feet into her sneakers, and, as she tied them, Sam and Sophie sniffed them. “I do have shoes, ya know,” she teased the dogs. They were used to her Ugg slippers, which she always ordered from the website. She’d forgotten what a good-fitting pair of sneakers felt like. Sam and Sophie trailed alongside her to the kitchen, where the scent of bacon and coffee lingered. After Katherine opened the French doors, both dogs raced outside, as was their routine.

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