The Whisperer (Nightmare Hall) by Diane Hoh Read Free Book Online

quickly, wanted midnight to come, get it all over with. Then there were moments when she wanted the hours to drag as if they were slogging through tar, giving her time to think, to plan, to figure things out.
    What she really wanted, she knew, was for someone to take a giant eraser and wipe away the past few days. So that she hadn’t gone into that office, hadn’t found the exam, hadn’t copied it, and Dr. Stark wasn’t lying in a hospital bed, unable to walk.
    Because it seemed crucial that she act as normally as possible, she did all the things she usually did.
    She ate dinner, down the road from campus at Burgers Etc., with Dinah and Sid and Coop, who, she thought, kept glancing over at her as if he had a question he wanted her to answer. But he never asked it.
    She prayed that no one would mention Dr. Stark. She didn’t think she could deal with that. And at first, she thought her prayer had been answered. They began talking about their summer plans.
    They were all, it turned out, staying on campus. Dinah had taken a lifeguard job at the Twin Falls country club, and told them that Tandy had done the same, as had her swim teammate, Linda Carlyle. All three were considering rooming together at Nightingale Hall. Dinah also mentioned that there was a party scheduled at the house the following Monday night to celebrate the end of a successful season for the swim team.
    Shea had been invited and had planned to go. But that was before she’d dug herself a bottomless pit and jumped into it. Now. …
    Shea was surprised to learn that Sid and Coop were both vying for the same summer job in the Animal Behavior Studies lab. Only one job was available, and they were both in the running. “Who decides who gets it?” she asked.
    Sid’s lips turned downward. “Guess. Who’s the head of the A.B.S. lab?”
    “Dr. Stark? But she’s … sick.”
    “That’s right,” Dinah said emphatically. “She won’t be making any major decisions for a while. Someone else will have to decide.” She smiled at Sid. “Good thing, too, Sid. She wasn’t your biggest fan. I was in the lab twice when she yelled at you for not keeping the charts in order.”
    “She’s hurt, but she’s not dead,” Sid countered. “And as far as I know, she hasn’t resigned any of her positions on campus. So she might still have the final say in which one of us scientific geniuses gets the plum job of the summer. It sure would look good on my record.”
    “Mine, too,” Coop said amiably. “Any alternative plans, Frye? In case I pull this off, I mean.”
    Sid shrugged. “Have to go back home and fry burgers at my dad’s place like I did last summer, I guess.”
    Coop laughed, but Dinah looked uncertain.
    She wants Sid to get it, Shea thought. So they can spend the summer together. Is that why she took the lifeguard job in the first place? Because she was sure he’d get the summer job and she wanted to be near him?
    “I’m staying, too,” Shea volunteered. “Summer school. I’m going to take another whack at bio, see if I can do better.” She was sorry the minute the words were out of her mouth. Couldn’t they talk about anything but Dr. Stark? She seemed to be haunting their booth tonight.
    Coop smiled at her. “No kidding? You’re staying?”
    Maybe not, she thought grimly. Maybe I won’t even be finishing the semester, if I don’t get my hands on that videotape.
    She didn’t eat another bite. Her food untouched, she sat studying the faces of everyone who passed their booth, wondering if there was any way you could tell by looking at a person if they made a habit of whispering into telephones.
    When they left, Shea and Coop both chose to walk back to campus. Dinah trailed along behind Sid, to his car, telling Shea she’d see her later.
    “You okay?” Coop asked as they waited for a gap in the highway traffic so they could cross safely to campus. “You seem a little out of it.”
    Oh, she wished. She wished she were out of it. Out of