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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
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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
Leesa's Advent Chapter 77
Kristi Brolen was glad to be home. This past semester, the first of her junior year at UConn, had been her most difficult by far. Upper level courses were much tougher than those she had taken her freshman and sophomore years. She had done okay, but it had required a lot of work. All she wanted to do now, at the beginning of her three week holiday break, was relax.So that was exactly what she was doing, sitting and reading in the backyard of her parents’ Ledyard home. She had dragged one of the heavy, dark green Adirondack chairs close to the edge of the yard—not an easy task for the five-foot five-inch, blue-eyed brunette—onto a small cement patio her dad had built a few years back to hold their propane gas grill and a wooden picnic table. She could have read at the table, but the Adirondack was so much more comfortable.She loved it back here. Every breath she drew was tinged with fresh pine fragrance from a row of slender Blue Spruce a few feet be
Leesa's Advent Chapter 78
“Oh, dear,” Aunt Janet said, “not another one.”“Another what, Aunt Janet?” Leesa asked, emerging from the kitchen with her mom where they had been doing the dishes. It was the first time since Leesa arrived in Connecticut that her aunt had permitted her to help with the clean up for any meal. Since all Leesa’s previous visits had been for just a few days or less, Aunt Janet had brushed off all Leesa’s offers to assist by saying she was a guest and guests did not do dishes in her house. This time, Leesa was staying for more than a week, which apparently moved her out of the guest category. She was happy to finally have the chance to pitch in.“Another young woman has disappeared,” Aunt Janet said.Aunt Janet was sitting on the couch next to her husband, watching the news on television. Max lay on the floor by their feet. Bradley was perched on the front of the big easy chair, staring intently at the TV.
Leesa's Advent Chapter 79
Christmas had ceased to be special for Leesa a long time ago. She had a few faint memories of joyous mornings and big, beautifully decorated trees from when she was very young, but once her father left all of that ended. Bradley tried to keep the day special for her, but he was just a kid himself, and there wasn’t much he could do. He usually managed to find a small, scraggly “Charlie Brown” Christmas tree they could hang a few decorations on and always provided one small present for Leesa, but that was about it. Not the stuff memories were made of, not by a long shot. This morning was different, though. This was a real family Christmas. It started late yesterday afternoon, when they all piled into Uncle Roger’s Expedition and headed to a nearby Christmas tree farm. Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger had a tradition of not purchasing their tree until the last moment, insuring it would be as fresh and lovely as possible for the actual holiday. They all wandered around the hug
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