The Hollow by Jessica Verday Read Free Book Online

attention they were getting.
    "The varsity cheerleading team has decided to dedicate this season to the memory of Kristen Markell," Aubra Stanton spoke up from the middle of the group. She was the only brunette of the bunch. "We will do our best to make sure her memory lives on through all of us."
    I snorted loudly when I heard this, causing several teachers to look at me with sympathy. They probably thought I was "sorting through my grief or something.
    The shorter blonde, Erika Something, took her turn. "She was just such a good person, you know? I can't believe she's really gone." She promptly burst into delicate sobs, being very careful not to smear her pristine makeup, while the other two girls hugged her.
    I almost gagged.
    First, they couldn't even get Kristen's last name right, and then they had the audacity to stand up there and act like they'd been best friends with her their whole lives? What total bullshit. They didn't care about Kristen. They hadn't even known Kristen.
    The sound of my boots hitting the wooden floor echoed loudly through the room as I stood up and made my way out of the gymnasium. I let the doors slam shut behind me and didn't bother to look back, choosing instead to head for the nearest bathroom stall to hide out in until the bell for first period rang.
    It was going to be a very long school year.
    The morning crawled by, and while everyone else around me struggled to get back into the habit of listening to teachers and taking notes again, I struggled not to think about Kristen. There wasn't even an empty seat waiting for her. Like nobody expected her to come back.
    When the bell finally rang signaling the end of history and the beginning of lunch, I slid out the door and hurried to the cafeteria. I desperately needed a break. But it wasn't any easier in there, and I automatically scanned the crowd for Kristen's face as I walked to our usual spot. A couple of people smiled at me when they passed by, but I couldn't smile back. I didn't want their pity. Or their forced company.
    After an excruciating twenty minutes spent picking at my food, I left the cafeteria before the main rush hit the hallways. Heading for my locker, I was grateful that Kristen's locker hadn't been assigned to anyone else yet, since it was directly next to mine. As long as it stayed empty, I wouldn't have to put up with someone new trying to take over her space.
    I jumped when the second bell rang, and then I grabbed my book bag, startled into action. Slamming my locker door shut, I rushed to my next class.
    The afternoon dragged on even slower than the morning, and every second was agonizing. I was relieved to find that my last class of the day was only a short study hall. A study hall, I quickly learned, that juniors and seniors were allowed to skip for the second half of the school year.
    That was the highlight of my whole day.
    But even that brief moment of happiness faded, and five minutes later I was ready to go. The eighteen minutes I had left until freedom felt more like eighteen hours.
    Since I wasn't going to actually study or anything, and no one was sitting next to me, I propped my books up to hide my head behind and closed my eyes. For a while I just sat there. Thinking about the day so far, and dreading the rest of the school year. Maybe I should talk to Mom about homeschool …
    It was the loud buzzing of the bell and someone bumping into my desk that jarred me awake. Wiping some drool off my mouth with one hand, I glanced around to see if anyone else had noticed. Fortunately, there wasn't anyone left to notice. I was the only one still here. Grabbing the books in front of me, I shoved them into my book bag and headed for the door.
    One day down, eight hundred million more to go.
    I took the long way home, mulling over the painful hours I'd just spent in school. It had not been a pleasant experience, and the last thing on earth I wanted to do was repeat today over again. That homeschool idea was starting to