Page 47 of Feel Free to Scream

That blush again. I grin.

“Everything,” she concludes, red as a beet.

“I’ll walk you out,” I say pleasantly, following her to the door.

I don’t want her to walk through the house unaccompanied; not until I’ve had a chance to talk to everyone here, and make it crystal clear that everything, from the tips of her wild white-blonde hair to those tiny toes, belongs to me.

At the door, I open it, and watch her hurry out, knowing she’ll be back very soon.

Honestly? It’s not even my fault. They came to the decision unprompted. I just didn’t see the need to argue with their highly logical conclusion. But I am very certain she won’t see it coming. She’s going to be thoroughly miserable.

I can’t wait to see how she reacts. I’m never entirely sure what she’ll do. If she comes to me right away, of her own volition, I’ll be sure to reward her for it. Has she learned yet, that whatever she needs from now on will come from me?

Doubtful.

20

CLAIRE

Ican’t quite determine how I feel today. One moment, I’m floating on a cloud, the next, I am flushing whenever anyone seems to look at me for longer than a second. Did they see me last night? Were they hidden under a mask? And I groan, or stamp my foot, when lurid images assault my mind. Telling myself to pull myself together every fifteen minutes achieves very little.

On the whole, everything is fine. More than fine. I’m enrolled again. It’s as if Sunday didn’t happen. That’s what I have to tell myself. It never happened. If only my brain would get the memo. Is there a way to remove some memories from someone’s brain? Asking for a friend.

“Hey!” Lily calls from her table at the cafe on the ground floor of the library, beaming as she waves.

She’s at a table with six seats, two of them occupied by two strangers. The guy has bad acne, large glasses, and a frame similar to mine, thin and rather small for a boy. I would have guessed he was sixteen, at a push. The girl is a brunette with the most startling pale jade eyes I’ve ever seen. Dressed entirely in black, her hair is cut in a bob that reminds me of a fashion model, but she slouches, looking down, like the last thing she wants is to get noticed.

Good luck with that. That girl isnotshaped to be a wallflower.

“Hey, Claire! This is Liv and Jack.”

I wave back. “Hi.”

“So, did everything get sorted?” she asks eagerly, and I nod.

“I’m officially re-enrolled.” I can’t help my grin. “I just got my schedule. I managed to squeeze in a drawing class, too, for fun.”

“Oh, what happened?” Liv asked.

I’m relieved Lily finds the right words before I can come up with anything. “An admin snafu. She thought her enrollment got cancelled last minute.”

“Oh my god!” Liv gapes at me, those beautiful eyes terrified. “I can’t imagine the stress. Even thinking about it is triggering my anxiety.”

“Olivia,” Jack says, rolling his eyes, “a broken mirror triggers your anxiety.”

“Well, they’re unlucky,” she states defiantly.

“And water is wet. Not to mention the sky’s blue,” Lily teases.

Liv doesn’t seem to mind. “I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat,” she tells me with an indifferent shrug.

“A bit?” Jack echoes.

I’m not judging. After yesterday, it wouldn’t take much to turn me into one either.

“What’s good here?” I ask, dropping my satchel on one of the empty seats, before rifling through it to get my wallet.

“Everything. It’s also ridiculously cheap,” Liv tells me.

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