Dissonance by Erica O’Rourke Read Free Book Online Page B

patient.”
    Her mask slipped as my words registered. “You don’t have to be a bitch about it. Won’t you be happier sticking with you own kind?”
    â€œMy own kind?” I didn’t think she meant Walkers.
    She simpered. “You know. Socially speaking. I’m only trying to help.”
    â€œSweet of you to worry. But Powell won’t let us switch.”
    â€œShe will if you ask. For some reason, she likes you.” She looked me over, the brightness in her voice ringing like steel. “Convince her to let us trade.”
    Annoyance shifted to anger. “Why? So you can climb all over Simon? He was tired of you back in September, Bree. He won’t be interested in a rerun.” I turned on my heel and left her fuming in the hallway.
    Bree and her friends viewed everyone as either a stepping stone or a target. I was the weird girl who was constantly skipping class and blowing off homework, so far on the fringes of the social scene I didn’t qualify as either. I wasn’t dazzled by her talent or taken in by her performances, but I’d never tried to outshine her. At most, I’d been an afterthought.
    Now I was a threat.
    â€œDel,” said Mrs. Gregory as I slid into my seat. “Good of you to join us. We missed you yesterday. As we so often do.”
    â€œNot all of us,” said Bree, coming in behind me. Snickers crackled through the room.
    â€œFamily emergency,” I said.
    â€œAnd yet the office has no record of either one of your parents calling to inform us of this . . . emergency. Which means, as you’re certainly aware by now, your absence is unexcused.”
    I sighed. The Walks I took during school weren’t part of any assignment. They were my own secret ramblings, illegal but irresistible. I couldn’t stand being cooped up in a classroom, not when the multiverse beckoned to me from every pivot I passed, new frequencies calling to me like a siren song. The War of 1812 or quadratic equations couldn’t compete. Hence, my familiarity with the inside of the dean’s office.
    Gathering up my books, I waved halfheartedly. “See you tomorrow.”
    â€œDon’t leave yet.” She gave me a stack of papers and a thin smile. “Pass these out, if you will. You can see the dean after our pop quiz.”
    Like one quiz would make a difference to my abysmal grade. Wordlessly I started circling the room. When I reached Bree’s desk, she took a paper and casually, deliberately, knocked the rest out of my hands.
    â€œSorry,” she said.
    I bent to scoop up the papers, and she added, “At least he knows I exist.”
    â€œExcuse me?” I reached for another quiz, and she planted her leopard-print ballet flat on top of it.
    â€œSimon. Did you honestly think one stupid project would give you a shot with him? You could disappear tomorrow andhe’d never notice. He doesn’t even know your name.”
    I stood, papers crumpling in my fist. Mrs. Gregory called, “Del, the quizzes? We don’t have all day.”
    Sotto voce, Bree murmured, “Watch yourself, freak.”
    I forced my fingers to uncurl. She settled back, triumphant, her ponytail swishing as she surveyed the room. I looked at the sheaf of papers in my hand, the questions so foreign I might as well not bother.
    So I didn’t.
    â€œDel! What are you doing?” Mrs. Gregory called.
    â€œSaving time,” I said, swinging my backpack over my shoulder. “I’ll tell the dean you said hello.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Every Walker leaves an audible trail when moving through Echoes, as does any object brought from the Key World. Over time, the signal will weaken until it becomes untraceable, though inanimate objects hold signatures longer than people.
    â€”Chapter Two, “Navigation,”
    Principles and Practices of Cleaving, Year Five
    W HEN I GOT home from school, disciplinary paperwork stuffed into the bottom of