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Chapter 68
Leesa stood behind the top row of the amphitheater style classroom, surveying the seats below. The room was about half full right now, and more kids were steadily filtering in through the doorway behind her. She wanted an aisle seat, as close to the front as possible. Aisle seats were always in demand, though, and the best one she saw was on the left aisle, only about one-third of the way down from the top. She limped quickly toward the left stairs before someone else nabbed the seat.
She needed to be on the aisle so she could get down to the stage as swiftly as possible when class ended, to talk to Dr. Clerval about her strange dream. The professor was always surrounded by students wanting to talk to him after class, so it was best to get down there quickly. With their shared history, she knew he would make time for her in any case, but she didn’t want to have to wait while he answered questions from other kids.
She settled into the seat she had eyed from the ba
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 69
“Wait a second.” He sat down for a moment, then got up and offered the spot to Leesa. “Sit here.” As soon as she sat, Leesa understood what Rave had done. The stone underneath her was as warm as if it had been baking in the summer sun all day. She smiled at him as he sat beside her. “Have I ever told you how useful you are to have around?”Rave grinned. “Yeah, you’ve mentioned it once or twice, I think.”“Well, it’s true, for sure.”Rave took her hand. “So, what’s on your mind, sweetheart?”Leesa hesitated. Now that she was about to talk about the dream with Rave and had made a bit of a big deal about it, she felt a little foolish. Still, she needed to learn whatever she could, and Rave was definitely her best link to the supernatural world.“It’s about a dream I had last week,” she said. “I dreamed some dead bodies dug themselves up ou
Leesa's Advent Chapter 70
Near midnight on friday night, Leesa sat at her desk, pouring over her biology book. Avril Lavigne’s “Goodbye Lullaby” CD was playing softly in the background for the third or fourth time. Leesa had been too consumed with her studying to bother changing it, but this time the raucous sounds of “What the Hell” pulled her attention away from the book. The parts about needing time to play and needing to be a bit crazy sure sounded like a good idea to her right now.There were a million things she would rather be doing than studying tonight, but finals started on Monday, so it was time to buckle down. She would rather be doing something with Rave, of course, or hanging out with Cali, Stacie and Caitlin playing Guitar Hero, or even bowling on Caitlin’s Wii. Or watching a movie, or reading a good book, or…. Her mouth stretched open into a big yawn. Sleeping wouldn’t be a bad choice, either.A week had passed since her graveyard
Leesa's Advent Chapter 71
Finals were way worse than midterms, Leesa quickly discovered. Not only was there twice as much material to study and remember, but the exams counted as a much bigger portion of the final grade, making the pressure that much greater. Everyone in the dorm was feeling it—everyone but Stacie, that was. Stacie was a brainiac who never studied past eleven o’clock and still got nothing but A’s. She was always smiling and energetic, when glassy stares and dragging gaits had become the norm.If Leesa had the time, she was sure she could make some decent money simply by recycling the piles of energy drink cans that kept the big trash bin outside the dorm overflowing. She could make a few bucks just from the cans she and Cali were going through.But, alas, there was little time for anything but studying, eating and sleeping—and little enough for the latter two. She couldn’t believe she would have to go through this hell seven more times before she g
Leesa's Advent Chapter 72
Her mood grew brighter still when she saw Rave smiling up at her from the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing his purple and brown flannel shirt and black jeans. The noon sun made his dark copper hair almost shine. Seeing him there melted away some of her fatigue as she limped down the steps.“What a nice surprise,” she said.Rave kissed her on the forehead. A little more of her tiredness vanished.“How did you do?”“Good enough, I think.”“I bet you’re glad to be done, huh?”“Ha! ‘Glad’ doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’m beat. I only got about two hours sleep last night. But I think it was worth it.”“And yet somehow, you still look beautiful,” Rave said, smiling. “What’s your secret?” Leesa blushed. Her fingers reached for her hair, but she had clipped it up into a tight bun this morning, so there was nowhere for
Leesa's Advent Chapter 73
Leesa and Rave walked arm in arm back to her dorm. For the most part, they walked in silence. Exhaustion had caught up with Leesa, and there was little more to say, anyhow. She knew Rave loved her, and she also knew he had to leave. She would miss him, of course, miss him terribly. But he would be back, and she hoped it would be sooner rather than later.She would have plenty to keep her busy over the holiday break. Her family was going to have a real Christmas for the first time in years—maybe even a white one, she hoped, if the weatherman cooperated. Also, she would be helping her mom and Bradley find an apartment. Her mom had decided she was well enough to take care of herself and Bradley, and felt they had imposed on Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger’s hospitality long enough. It was time to get their own place, and Leesa was more than happy to help.Rave usually said his goodbyes outside the dorm, but today he accompanied Leesa up to her room. The Red Bull Le
Leesa's Advent Chapter 74
Outside, the cold hit Leesa immediately, waking her up even better than the water she had splashed on her face. She put her blue ski cap on her head, tugging it down over her ears, and grabbed her gloves from her pockets. Her friends similarly fortified themselves against the chill. Cali’s hat was a funky brown fur thing, complete with a chin strap and a pair of ears sticking up from the top that resembled wolf ears. The edges of both ears were torn ragged, making it look like some wild animal had gnawed on them. Leesa could barely keep from laughing. “What the heck is that thing?” she asked. “Pretty cool, huh?” Cali said. “I found it at a garage sale last year. Just because I need to be warm doesn’t mean I can’t make a statement at the same time.” “Yeah, and your statement is ‘I’m one very weird chick,’” Leesa said, laughing. “You know what they say,” Stacie added. “There’s no accounting for taste—or lack of it.” They all laughed. “You’re all
Leesa's Advent Chapter 75
Leesa was sitting on her bed reading when her mom and Bradley walked in through the open door. She had gotten a good night’s sleep after the bonfire and was feeling pretty rested this morning. Smiling, she bounced up off the bed and gave her mom a big hug. When she was done, she moved into Bradley’s arms.“Hi, pumpkin,” he said, squeezing her tightly.“How are you feeling, big brother?” she asked when she stepped out of his embrace.“I feel great.”In truth, he did look great, a far cry from the gaunt, glassy-eyed apparition Stefan had led out of the darkness when he had come to fulfill his side of his bargain with Leesa. Bradley’s blue eyes were bright and clear, and he seemed to have put on another pound or two since she had seen him a week or so ago. But the best thing about him was his wide smile, a smile that had helped Leesa through so many difficult days during her childhood.Her mom look
Leesa's Advent Chapter 76
Leesa sat on the front steps of her aunt’s house, arms resting on her thighs, gazing off to the west. The sun hung low in a cloudless sky, a pale yellow orb that seemed almost to balance atop the rolling hills on the far horizon. No wonder it was so cold out here, she thought—the barely glowing disc seemed incapable of providing any real warmth.She had bundled up against the cold, adding a black wool scarf around her neck to her usual winter garb of ski cap, parka, leather gloves and Ugg boots. She had been sitting out here for almost half an hour, thinking and watching the sun slowly sink lower and lower. Max was running around the front yard, occasionally coming back to the steps for a few moments of petting before racing out onto the lawn again and resuming his fun.Today was the twenty-first of December—the winter solstice. The reason Rave was gone. Leesa was watching to see if she might notice anything different about the sun today, some slight
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