A Girl Called Dust by V.B. Marlowe Read Free Book Online Page B

with all my homework done
and nothing to do, scary thoughts filled my head. Was there some kind of
monster on the loose in our town, or were these just normal animal attacks? I
had the urge to talk to someone, but Fletcher was out of the question. I
thought about calling Bailey, but that would have been awkward since she’d
decided that I didn’t exist.
    Scarlett had given me her personal cell
phone number and said I could call her any time I wanted, but if I did that,
she might actually think I needed her. When I heard Dad go into his office, I
knocked on the door and poked my head in. “Hey, Dad.”
    He looked up from a stack of papers on his
desk. Dad was a marketing executive for an advertising firm. He seemed to love
his job, but it sounded pretty boring to me. So boring I felt sorry for him.
     “Hey, kiddo. Come on in.”
    I pulled up a chair and sat beside him at
his cluttered desk. Dad was my favorite parent. It might have seemed wrong to
say that, but it was only fair. Parents had favorite children even if they
denied it. I wasn’t sure who my parents’ favorite was, but it sure as hell
wasn’t me. Maybe Paige was Mom’s favorite since Paige was constantly telling
her how she was the hottest mom out of all her friends. Dad always got a kick
out of Quinn’s projects and inventions, so she was probably his favorite.
    Dad was my favorite because he never
judged me, and when Mom did, he defended me.
    “What are you doing?” I asked, even though
I never understood when he explained job stuff to me.
    “Just finishing up some expense reports
and making sure we’re within our budget. You know, fun stuff.” He flipped through
some pages and then typed something on a spreadsheet on his laptop. Dad paused
and looked over at me. “With the exception of what happened to poor Mr.
Thompson, how’s school going so far? We haven’t really had a chance to talk
since you’ve gone back. I mean, I’ve heard all about Paige’s new language she
and her friends invented that only the cool kids know and Quinn’s told me all
about her gifted classes, but I haven’t heard much from my Ardy.”
    I grinned. Ardy was what he used to call
me when I was little. “There’s not much to tell. I have different classes. But
it’s the same old same old.”
    “How are the kids?”
    I shrugged. “The same, I guess. I stay
under the radar, and they don’t bother me. Bailey won’t even look at me this
year, but I have Fletcher . . .” My voice caught in my throat. I had Fletcher.
I reminded myself that I had decided that our friendship was over, and judging
by the way he’d looked at me earlier, he would probably have been okay with
that.
    Dad touched my chin. “If anyone is
bothering you, you let us know.”
    “I will, Dad.” But I probably wouldn’t.
Besides, nobody really bothered me. They spent too much time ignoring me to do
that.
    “Dad, do you really think it was an animal
attack or were you just trying to make things sound better for Quinn and Paige?
You know I’m old enough that you don’t have to candy-coat things for me.”
    He went back to his work. “That’s what I
really think. What do you think?”
    I wasn’t sure. “What if it’s a person?”
    Dad shook his head. “No. From what I hear,
the way those bodies were torn apart, there’s no way a Human did that, not even
with a weapon. They found teeth and claw marks. You remember how you found Mrs.
Chin.”
    I’d almost managed to block Mrs. Chin’s
mutilated body from my mind until Mr. Thompson was killed. The look of terror
frozen on her face. Her body in pieces. Her guts lying on the ground between
the top and lower halves of her body. My heart caught in my throat. “I’m going
to bed now.”
    “Okay, honey.”
    I gave Dad a peck on his cheek and then
headed to bed. When Mom came in to discuss what I’d told her about Wiley
earlier, I pretended to be asleep. When I tried to fall asleep for real, I
couldn’t. Taking that nap earlier had been a