Immortal City by Scott Speer Read Free Book Online Page B

between sobs. Mr. Rankin walked over to the tank and examined it. He put his ear to the valve, and his eyes grew wide.
    “It’s leaking,” he said with alarm. “We have to evacuate this classroom. Now.”
    •   •   •
     
    Maddy spent the next period in the nurse’s office, which smelled of Band-Aids and alcohol, before being called before the principal’s desk. Mrs. Neilson agreed not to press charges, and in exchange, Maddy was given lunch detention the following day. Conversely, she was also thanked for helping detect the gas leak, although no one could quite figure out how she had known. Maddy, who didn’t want to open the can of worms that telling them the truth could cause, said she had smelled something walking past the lab. She was sent back to class and tried to finish out the rest of the day ignoring the whispers of her classmates.
    The day had gone in her mind from hopeful to disastrous. She felt like a freak, like someone entirely different and out of step with the world. But that, she told herself, was nothing new.
    After the final bell buzzed, Maddy pulled her hood over her hair and walked quickly home. She didn’t bother going inside but hurried across the yard and down the small hill to the office door of Kevin’s Diner, where she changed into her waitress’s uniform. Since Tracy had scheduled the night off, Maddy would be spending the rest of her day working the evening shift.
    “How was school, Maddy?” Kevin called from the kitchen as Maddy threw her backpack in the office, pinned on her name tag, and pulled her hair into a ponytail.
    “You know, uneventful,” she replied, trying to sound as convincing as she could.
    “Really? Classes were okay?”
    “Yup,” she said, coming into the kitchen and smiling vaguely. She hated to lie, especially to Kevin, but she couldn’t see any way around it. She wasn’t going to tell him about what happened. Being a freak at school she was willing to accept, but she didn’t want to be one at home too. She grabbed her notepad and pen and swung into the dining room before Kevin could ask anything else.
    After about an hour, Gwen, Gwen’s friend Jessica, and Samantha Cellato came in. Jessica and Samantha were both juniors, and Sam had been in the biology lab for Maddy’s little performance with Mrs. Neilson. Maddy put them in a booth in the rear, and they all ordered the hamburger dinner. They had, undoubtedly, come in to talk over the incident at school.
    “You made the Lunch Special,” Gwen said as Maddy arrived with their Diet Cokes. Of course, Gwen wasn’t talking about food. The Lunch Special was the gossip blog of Angel City High, where a junior named Blake Chambers dished on the goings-on of the school. Gwen held out the Berry for Maddy to read.
    The screen featured a blowup of Maddy’s hideous junior-year picture and the headline “MADDY MONTGOMERY ATTEMPTS TO TORCH BIO LAB.” She read Blake’s words aloud.
    “‘Dear Maddy, thank you, on behalf of the student body, for trying to set fire to the school. It would be an improvement, no doubt. Next time, though, please wait until the fire starts before beating up Mrs. Neilson for giving you an A–.’” Maddy winced. Jessica giggled.
    “Did you get in trouble?” Sam asked, her eyes wide.
    “Lunch detention tomorrow,” Maddy said. “I don’t really care. It will give me time to work on my applications.”
    “Well, I mean, but how did you
know
?” Jessica asked as she plopped a straw in her Diet Coke and took a deep pull. Gwen looked at Maddy, her face sincere.
    “Did . . . it . . . have to do with what happens?” she asked quietly.
    “Happens?” Samantha asked avidly.
    “Nothing,” Maddy snapped, glaring at Gwen. “It’s nothing. I’ll be right back with those hamburger dinners.” Maddy left the table, annoyed and a little embarrassed. Gwen lowered her voice.
    “Maddy has this thing. She . . . sees things sometimes.”
    “What!?” Jessica gasped, her