Free Downcast by Cait Reynolds Page A

desperate in all the ways I felt freaked and desperate.
    "Why?" he asked, and there was a clear note of complaint in his voice even as he complied, releasing my waist but still standing before me, one hand bracing himself against Zack’s locker.
    "I'm really sorry, but...but I'm not sure what you're doing, but I'm not...I don't think it's a good idea."
    He looked at me, his mouth tightening into a grim line, his eyes narrowing.
    "In fact," I continued, even though my voice was shaky. "I think it would be a good idea if you and I didn't talk anymore."
    "Is that what you really think?" he murmured.
    "Yes."
    "Why?"
    "I can't tell you."
    I heard the dry rasp of metal next to my head. I turned just enough to see his hand on the disintegrating metal of the locker as it fell like rusty snowflakes to the ground.
    I stared at it, really freaked now. What the hell?
    I grabbed my bag and wheeled around to run from him, my heart pounding and my mind electrified by fear.
    Behind me, I heard the whispery sound of metal being turned to ash.
     

CHAPTER NINE
    I WAS GETTING really sick of waking up cold with numb toes and fingers and worse, the weariness of never haven gotten warm enough to sleep deeply. I was also getting sick of waking up from dreams of being someplace cold and dark, with nothing and no one to hold onto.
    "What the—" I exclaimed softly as I opened my eyes and saw my breath come out as a puff of white in the air. Had Mom forgotten to turn on the heat last night?
    Frowning, I watched the frosty clouds of my breath for another minute.
    Then, gritting my teeth and pulling the thin, old quilt around my shoulders, I touched my feet to the icy wood floor. Shuffling over to the window, I looked out at my dying garden.
    Except now, it was pretty much dead because of the inch of snow that lay on top of it. Snow? In the first week of September? This was insane!
    My stomach lurched a little at the thought of the dead flowers in my graveyard. Now my garden at home was just as dead and just as rotted. Bits of my conversation with Morris yesterday flitted through my mind. Yeah, this was definitely "unseasonably" cold.
    My thoughts slid from snow and ice to Haley’s heat. I had fallen asleep to endless circles of fear and longing. I shivered at the memory of his touch, at the memory of his fingers crushing the metal of the locker. Was it an accident? Was he just freakishly strong? Could it have been some fluke of physics? Was he dangerous, or was I foolish? Or both? Or neither?
    This was so totally out of the realm of anything I had ever experienced, I just had no idea how to decide what I thought or felt about it all. There was no one I could talk to. Asking Mom for boy advice was inviting being locked up and homeschooled for the rest of my life. Morris had even less romantic insight than I had. And Helen? Maybe I could ask Helen, but I knew her answer would be calm, logical, sensible, and safe. Maybe I didn't want to be safe for once? Maybe I did?
    "Gah!" I muttered and grabbed my clothes and headed for the shower.
    ***
    Mom was in the kitchen, pacing aimlessly from one appliance to another without actually doing anything. Her face was scrunched up in a way that made her look frightened, but her eyes seemed to be really bright and blue—more than usual.
    There was no oatmeal on the table. There was no sliced banana or blueberries. It looked like she had forgotten to make breakfast.
    I couldn't have been happier with her memory loss and grabbed an apple for myself instead.
    Still, unease lay like a frost over both of us. I sat at the table, eating my apple and watching her pace until it was time to leave for school. I got her purse and keys and brought them to her.
    She started out of her daze and looked down at me, her expression turning almost panicked.
    "Stephanie," she said hesitantly. "Have you...have you noticed anything unusual about anything in the past few days?"
    I didn't even think twice before pulling out the “dumb