“I can’t meet today,” I say to the Descendants. Everyone except Susannah, who stares pointedly at me. The other students look, too, lifting their feet and backpacks. “What the…?” I jerk backward, and my reaction is so sudden that I half slide off my seat and have to grab my desk to keep from landing on the floor. And as I do, the young girl from this morning appears in front of me. Sometimes I wonder if they’re made of ice instead of normal eyeball material. I look past Susannah to Alice, and her black-outlined blue eyes challenge me. Thinking about Vivian hurts in ways I haven’t sorted out yet. I actually hope to never discuss what happened. But to be honest, I’m not ready to talk about the woods. I haven’t spent time with the Descendants since everything happened.

I knew they would want to talk at some point I just wasn’t expecting it to be today. I open Susannah’s note under my desk and discover it isn’t from Susannah at all. He looks up and catches me staring at him, and I immediately turn back to the front of the class. Not only because the rumors that Niki mail-ordered herself a boyfriend have taken attention away from my situation, but because Matt’s living with Blair, and their bizarre trio has spawned soap-opera-style fights in the middle of the hallway. I have to admit, I’ve enjoyed watching the drama between him, Blair, and Niki these past few months. Forget it.” Blair walks past him, and he smiles to himself. He pulls out the pen he was looking for from his backpack and peers up at her. “So much for being a dance committee member, Matt.

Haunting the deep by adriana mather