Free Possessions by Nancy Holder Page A

Julie groaned. “Ow! It hurts !”
    “Look.” Claire shined her flashlight on a blob of white gleaming in the moonlight. It was a human head made out of glass — maybe porcelain. The brain was showing and it was divided up into sections with numbers painted in black.
    “What the heck is that?” Ida said.
    “It’s Julie’s missing head,” Claire informed her.
    “No, it’s like a chart. Like a cut-by-numbers. Oh my God, did they do brain surgeries out here?” Ida made a face.
    I gently touched Julie’s ankle. She sucked in her breath.
    “Ouch, no,” she said. “Oh, it really hurts.” She looked off to the left, where Mandy’s group had gone.
    “Can you stand up?” Rose asked.
    Julie groaned. “I don’t know.” Ida loosened the torso section of the costume, and Julie pulled out her arms. She was wearing a simple white T-shirt and a jog bra underneath. Her ball gown was gathered around her hips, the torso and stump sticking straight out from her stomach. The pumping mechanism had shut off.
    “We need to get help,” I said. “Maybe someone’s cell phone works up here. We can call security.”
    Ida and Claire both grimaced; Julie shook her head. And Rose said, “Let’s think that one through, okay? It’s one in the morning and we are out here.” She looked around. “Maybe Mandy’s got an idea.”
    “Go ask her,” Julie begged. “And tell her I’ll be right there, okay?”
    Rose bounded away.
    “I think I broke her costume,” Julie told me under her breath. She sounded very young and scared. I felt for her. She’d been so excited to be included.
    “Well, she’s lucky you don’t sue her,” I replied.
    “We could sling our arms under her shoulders and walk her back to the dorm,” Claire suggested.
    “No, it’s almost a mile,” I argued. “Rose will come back with Mandy.”
    But Rose jogged back empty-handed, shaking her head.
    “They’re gone.”
    “Oh, great,” Julie moaned. I could hear the hurt in her voice. They hadn’t waited for her.
    “Hey,” said a deep masculine voice.
    Two hiking boots were planted in front of me. Two long, muscular legs, in jeans. I gazed up to see the guy from the pines, tousle-headed, bedroom eyes . . . gazing directly at me. He caught my gaze and held it. All that was very nice . . . very nice . . . but it was his smile that mesmerized me. Sweet and kind of innocent. It actually made me smile . . . and tingle, and look down for a moment, to catch my breath. Then I looked back up.
    “Chainsaw guy,” Ida breathed.
    “Hi,” he said to me. “Need some help?”

ten
    He stood in front of us, gazing down, his dark hair curling around his face, his eyes warm and deep blue. He had the kind of mouth that looked great when he smiled, with dimples on either side. His nose was straight, then a tad bit turned up, very adorable. His Lakewood sweatshirt clung to a fantastic chest and good arms. Jeans and boots finished it off. He smelled like wood smoke. It was a good smell for him.
    “I saw you fall,” he said to Julie. He jerked his head in the direction of the pine trees. “I’ve got a car,” he said. “I can drive you back to Marlwood. Maybe you should go to the infirmary.” He looked at me again, as if he saw something he wanted to keep track of. Riley used to look at me like that.
    There was no way Riley was going to share this moment. None .
    I couldn’t seem to make my brain connect to my mouth. After an extended silence, I said, “Cool.”
    That was brilliant.
    “Can you get us close to our dorm instead?” Julie asked him. “We’re in Grose.” Julie looked quickly at me before continuing. “We can wait until morning to get it looked at. I’ll say I slipped on my way to breakfast. That way we won’t get in trouble.”
    “No,” I said, picking up the layers of her dress and running my flashlight the length of her leg. Her jeans concealed her injury. “I say better a little bit of trouble now than, I dunno, gangrene setting