Fallen by Lauren Kate Read Free Book Online Page A

Luce’s stomach churned as she watched her friend’s entire body quake. She reached out to catch Arriane just as she sank to the floor.
    “Arriane,” Luce whispered. “Are you okay?”
    “Terrific.” Arriane’s dark eyes flickered open, then shut.
    Luce gasped. Then one of Arriane’s eyes popped back open. “Scared ya, did I? Aw, that’s sweet. Don’t worry, the shocks won’t kill me,” she whispered. “They only make me stronger. Anyway, it was worth it to give that cow a black eye, ya know?”
    “All right, break it up. Break it up,” a husky voice boomed behind them.
    Randy stood in the doorway, red-faced and breathing hard. It was a little too late to break anything up, Luce thought, but then Molly was lurching toward them, her stiletto heels clicking on the linoleum. This girl wasshameless. Was she really going to kick the crap out of Arriane with Randy standing right there?
    Luckily, Randy’s burly arms closed around her first. Molly tried to kick her way out and started screaming.
    “Somebody better start talking,” Randy barked, squeezing Molly until she went limp. “On second thought, all three of you report for detention tomorrow morning. Cemetery. Crack of dawn!” Randy looked at Molly. “Have you
chilled
yet?”
    Molly nodded stiffly, and Randy released her. She crouched down to where Arriane still lay in Luce’s lap, her arms crossed over her chest. At first Luce thought Arriane was sulking, like an angry dog with a shock collar, but then Luce felt a small jolt from Arriane’s body and realized that the girl was still at the mercy of the wristband.
    “Come on,” Randy said, more softly. “Let’s go turn you off.”
    She extended her hand to Arriane and helped heave up her tiny, shaking body, turning back only once at the doorway to repeat her orders for Luce and Molly.
    “Crack of dawn!”
    “Looking forward to it,” Molly said sweetly, reaching down to pick up the plate of meat loaf that had slipped from her tray.
    She dangled it over Luce’s head for a second, then turned the plate upside down and mashed the food intoher hair. Luce could hear the squish of her own mortification as all of Sword & Cross got its viewing of the meat-loaf-coated new girl.
    “Priceless,” Molly said, pulling out the tiniest silver camera from the back pocket of her black jeans. “Say … meat loaf,” she sang, snapping a few close-up shots. “These will be
great
on my blog.”
    “Nice hat,” someone jeered from the other side of the cafeteria. Then, with trepidation, Luce turned her eyes to Daniel, praying that somehow he had missed this whole scene. But no. He was shaking his head. He looked annoyed.
    Until that moment, Luce had thought she had a chance at standing up and just shaking off the incident—literally. But seeing Daniel’s reaction—well, it finally made her crack.
    She would
not
cry in front of any of these horrible people. She swallowed hard, got to her feet, and took off. She rushed toward the nearest door, eager to feel some cool air on her face.
    Instead, the southern September humidity cloaked her, choking her, as soon as she got outside. The sky was that no-color color, a grayish brown so oppressively bland it was difficult even to find the sun. Luce slowed down, but got as far as the edge of the parking lot before she came to a complete stop.
    She longed to see her battered old car there, to sink into the fraying cloth seat, rev the engine, crank up thestereo, and peel the hell out of this place. But as she stood on the hot black pavement, reality set in: She was stuck here, and a pair of towering metal gates separated her from the world outside Sword & Cross. Besides, even if she’d had a way out … where was she going to go?
    The sick feeling in her gut told her all she needed to know. She was already at the last stop, and things were looking pretty grim.
    It was as depressing as it was true: Sword & Cross was all she had.
    She dropped her face into her hands, knowing