Silver is for Secrets by Laurie Faria Stolarz Read Free Book Online Page A

guy sounds like a jerk.”
    “I guess,” Clara says, sipping her frappe. “But I miss him.
    We‟re supposed be going on a cruise together in a couple days.”
    “His name wouldn‟t happen to be Casey?” I ask, realizing how familiar al of this sounds.
    “Yeah,” Clara nods. “You know him? Did he say anything about me?” Clara‟s eyes are al wide and concerned, like this is really important to her. I concentrate on her face a moment, at her trembling lips—like she could lose it at any moment—and the ashen tone that seems to hover all around her.
    “Not real y,” I say, remembering how angry Casey got over the mere mention of Clara.
    “Look at how she‟s staring at me,” Clara says, looking back at Casey‟s ex. “Like it‟s al my fault.”
    “Clara,” I demand, nabbing her attention back. “You need to listen to me. What I‟m about to say is going to sound a little crazy.”
    “But Stacey can help you,” Drea says. “I mean, she helped me.”
    “Oh my god,” Clara says. “Is it something Casey said? Something he told you?”
    “It‟s not about Casey,” I say, feeling a chil pass over my shoulders. “At least I don‟t think it is.”
    Clara cocks her head like I‟ve confused her even more.
    “It‟s about you,” I say, taking a giant breath. “I had a nightmare about you.”
    “Excuse me?” Her eyebrows arch as though I‟ve caught her off guard—as though she‟s stuck somewhere between surprised and confused.
    “You need to trust Stacey,” Drea says. “I know this sounds crazy, but she sees things in her dreams—her nightmares—and the stuff comes true. It happened a couple years ago with me. Stacey was having nightmares that some guy was going to try and kill me. And the nightmares came true.”
     
    “But you‟re stil sitting here.”
    “Because of Stacey,” Drea continues. “Because she was able to predict the future before it happened—so we could stop it.”
    “Right,” Clara says. She‟s nodding her head, looking back and forth at the two of us, probably wondering who‟s more crazy.
    “Just hear me out,” I say. “Please.”
    She folds her arms and looks away, toward Casey‟s ex again, now sitting at one of the picnic tables. She and her friend notice Clara and start talking amongst themselves, letting out a couple obnoxious squeals loud enough for us to hear.
    They look back over at us and Clara looks away.
    “Clara,” I say, “are you listening to me?”
    “Sure.” She giggles. “You were saying something about your nightmares?” I nibble the inside of my cheek, wondering how I can put this, how I can soften it in some way. But then I just say it: “You‟re in trouble. Serious trouble.” Clara nods at me, biting down on her lower lip, as though she‟s holding in a laugh.
    “It‟s not a joke,” I say. “Has everything in your life been going normal?”
    “Normal?”
    “I mean, has anything different happened to you?”
    “Different how?”
    I shake my head, trying to think of something else to say, something that might lead me to an answer. “Is there something you don‟t want to tel anyone?”
    “Like what?” She laughs.
    “I don‟t know,” I say, remembering the voice in my dream. “Is there something you don‟t want other people to know?”
    I feel stupid even asking these questions—like she‟d ever tel me, a complete stranger, her most intimate secrets. I take a deep breath, thinking how my grandmother always knew how to ask just the right questions, how none of her questions were ever too pointed, and how they always encouraged the fullest, most telling answers—like she was able to sense what people wanted to talk about. So why can‟t I do the same?
    “It‟s real y no big deal,” Clara says. “I sometimes have creepy nightmares, too.
    But nothing freaky happens. It was probably just like that.”
    “No,” I say, “it‟s different for me. My nightmares come true.”
    “Why don‟t you tel Clara what she was