Page 63 - My FlipBook

T R A I L O F C R U M B S

stuck her head out to sweep the hallway with her eyes before
closing the door.
“Ah, Greta. Come in.”
The spell broke. Greta took a step forward and moved to
her seat, her eyes fixed straight ahead. Her heart pounding
as she moved to her seat, she never once turned to see if
Rachel was even there. She saw the back of Priya’s head near
the front, but Priya didn’t peer over at Greta today. Greta sat

rigid in her chair and tried to focus on breathing, hearing
only snatches of what Ms. Nordstrom said. Last day of classes.
Then exams. Then something new.
When Ash appeared at her locker at lunchtime, she glow-
ered at him. It was his fault she was there. Still, he hadn’t
taken off, and that counted for something. They ate in an
empty classroom. Her body unclenched a little as they closed

the door. Just the two of them in the quiet space.
At the end of the day Greta and Ash stepped through
the front doors and headed to the bus stop, Greta checking
around them constantly. The temperature had risen—she
didn’t shrink from the air like she had that morning. Snow,
tinged gray, covered the green space in front of the school and
the base of the flagpole. It hadn’t snowed in a week. Sand had
been scattered over the icy patches on the walkway.
The rush to get ready for school gone. The panic of having

to see them gone. Just the bus carrying Ash and Greta to their
empty home. Ash must have felt it too. They said nothing at
all on the bus ride or the walk from their stop. Rebus was
already parked outside Nate’s house.

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