Vision of Secrets Read Free Page A

pass right through her and waving at
me.
    Holly was a ghost that has been here since I
first arrived. She had been killed about two years before I started
here, while I was still in middle school. She was a senior who had
been texting and driving when she wrapped her car around a
guardrail on the Belt Parkway. That hadn’t stopped Holly from
gossiping. Especially once I was around and able to actually hear
her.
    She came up to me as I was shoving things into
my locker.
    “Ooh,” She said. “I’ve got so much to tell you.
That girl Angela I was telling you about? Well, she didn’t break up
with her boyfriend like I thought she would. Instead, she just
screwed his best friend. She figured if he could do it with hers,
why not? I mean, like LOL, how stupid is that? Oh and I heard that
girl Jen, the girl with the reddish hair? She’s talking to some guy
online named Jason. She was showing his picture before. OMG, he’s
so adorable. I don’t know what he sees in her. And did you see
Melissa Harkin today? What was she wearing? She’s such a
slut.”
    I rolled my eyes as I listened to her prattle
on and on. God help me, she was making me miss Jerry. I wanted to
tell her to get lost, but this was all she had and it wasn’t like
it was doing any harm. Nobody could hear the gossip she was
spreading except me. She was like my personal TMZ.
    That’s when I got an idea. I went in to a
nearby bathroom, hoping Holly would follow me. She did. She kept
talking about what she saw in the boys’ locker room—who was big,
bigger, biggest and who had a small one—while I fidgeted with my
bag, waiting for the bathroom to empty. When the last girl ran to
get to class, I turned to Holly and shushed her.
    “That’s all fascinating,” I said, keeping my
tone friendly. “But let me ask you a question. There’s this kid in
my history class. His name is Brady. He wears a hoodie. Any idea
who he is?”
    Holly thought about it a moment. “Dark hair,
looks like his own personal dark cloud hovering above his head?
Yeah, I’ve seen him. Really, Bristol, you could do so much better
than him.”
    “I’m not interested in him like that,” I said.
“And I doubt he’s interested in me like that. I just want to know
what his story is. Any chance you could find out?”
    Holly practically beamed. “I can’t make any
promises. It’s hard to get info when nobody is talking about him,
but I’ll see what I can do. Nice earrings, by the way.”
    She was gone before I had a chance to say
thanks. I left and headed for class. Throughout the day, nobody
wished me a happy birthday, which I suppose is my own fault. I
can’t ever remember telling anyone when my birthday was.
    I thought about telling someone that not only
was it my birthday, but that my parents would be out of town for
the next few days. I could throw a party, and as long as it didn’t
get to out of control, nobody would even know.
    But it wouldn’t be worth it just so I didn’t
have to spend the weekend alone. I didn’t feel like spending the
day with anyone from school.
    Besides, I didn’t want to have to listen to
Mrs. Reid from down the hall lecture me about what was wrong with
teenagers these days. Not again. She could go on and on. Not that
she would tell my parents. She couldn’t, since she had died seven
years ago, but that hadn’t stopped her from popping in on me
whenever she thought I was up to no good.
    After lunch, I went to the ladies room, where
once again, I heard the vocal styling’s of Jerry. I considered
flushing myself down the toilet. Unfortunately, I wasn’t alone in
there.
    Michelle Molloy came in to fluff, or whatever
it is you call what she does. Michelle was a junior like me. She
was dating the high school football quarterback and had him wrapped
around her finger.
    I had heard stories, mostly from Holly, that
Michelle liked to play pranks on anyone that she didn’t deem cool
enough. And if anyone stood up to her, she’d sic he big boyfriend
on