Shattering Halos Read Free Page A

mental picture of somebody losing a glob of the dreaded lasagna on the floor. I imagined the smear splattered over the light ceramic tiles. Blood-colored. Blended with pasta in the sickening color of fractured bones.
    Megan! Her arm when it twisted against the window before the car exploded.
    My lungs couldn’t use all the oxygen I inhaled. Unsteady, I needed something to hold on to.
    Eyes thawed my back as I walked to the counter. The feeling tingled up my spine, bringing me to a halt. I turned slowly—and went still.
    Behind us, he scanned the wet floor with a frown. Too fast for me to panic, luminous irises bored into mine. I waited for the pain to roar in and destroy me. When nothing happened, my heart tried to gallop away in hopes that my legs would take the hint.
    After months, he suddenly appeared on top of a lunch table in my school. In faded jeans and barefoot, in the same flowing, white shirt, he just sat there…beaming!
    His skin shimmered as he tilted his head; even in the bright lunchroom, he looked backlit. I’m dying , I thought and could have sworn his angelical features tensed.
    Why would I see him now when my subconscious hadn’t conjured him up in months? Either I was going crazy, or he didn’t have an imaginary bone in his body. Sure, he was eerily gorgeous and surreally out of place, but still…
    “Hey, what are you staring at, Gaia?” Marina squinted at me, bemused.
    “You see him, right? On top of the table?”
    “Who?”
    The bewildered lilt in her voice made me frown. “Please. Look closer.”
    “Uh-huh. You’re so messing with me right now.”
    I shot her a side-glance. To me, nothing could be more obvious than him erupting into another glorious smile in front us. I grabbed Marina’s arm and forced her to narrow the distance with me, but by the time I stretched out a palm in an I-told-you-so gesture, he’d disappeared. Either he was playing cat and mouse with me, or I had lost my marbles.
    Studying me, Marina’s brow furrowed. Her mouth lifted on one side as her eyes narrowed into slits. “Meh. I got nothing. What’s up, Gaia?”
    Disappointment thickened my throat. I turned away from her as my lower lip launched into a tremble. Damn, I was still so unstable!
    Please, don’t notice.
    She instantly caught my change of mood.
    “Oh, sweetie, did you think you saw Chris? Did he use to wait for you like that when you came out of class?”
    Incapable of getting a grip, I fueled her less-than-discreet Italian compassion. Grief wrenched my gut, and she squeezed me tight. Yes, Chris had always waited for me in the cafeteria, and I suddenly missed him more than ever. I missed Megan and Brandon, I missed Ash, and I missed my invention. My imaginary friend. The stranger.
    No. I did not just think that!
    “I’m so sorry!” Fussing, she pressed me into a seat. The tears forced their way down my cheeks as the cafeteria filled with students. Survival instinct kicked into gear at the uneasy looks they sent me. I shot up, ready to get away from the spotlight.
    “I’ll be right back…”
    “Gaia, where are you going? I’ll come with you.”
    I shook my finger at her.
    “No, no, don’t bother. I’m fine.”
    Then, I fled. Not prone to tantrums or crying, I wondered how the drama queens did it; how do you calm down when your emotions morph into chaotic roadmaps full of dead-end streets?
    People live with grief.
    With a tempest howling inside me, it took all my strength not to race down the hallways. I wanted to get away from the stares and be alone.
    Gaia, he doesn’t exist.
    Maybe I could find him. In the cafeteria, I’d felt lighter after he appeared. I moved through the corridors, faintly noticing the lunch bell as I curved into the main hallway. Laughter and chattering filled the halls, and the students streamed into the space around me. I wanted—no, needed—to be alone. I fixated on the janitor’s closet.
    I tried the doorknob. It relented, and I stumbled into a tiny room