Free Spree (YA Paranormal) by Jonathan DeCoteau Page B

not unlike my lower body, but she had this storm above her. Her aura was full of red and black clouds swirling with occasional bursts of gold that looked like pure anger, pure lightning. Her face was sunken in, and her lips and her eyes were black.
    “You were going to be the new girlfriend,” I said. “Preggers, I’m so sorry.”
    “I always hated that name.”
    “Cindy,” I said. “I really am sorry.”
    “No, not yet,” Preggers told me. “But you will be.”
    Preggers threw her storm of anger towards me. I could feel her anger enveloping me, making me flash back to the time I kissed another boy, Tom, Alex’s friend. Alex never burst in and caught us in the act, but rumors started and those rumors were enough to end our relationship. I saw myself looking up Alex’s Facebook status, seeing it change. I saw an image of myself handing him his ring back, telling him that he was making the biggest mistake of his life, that he’d be sorry. Turns out that it was the second biggest mistake of mine.
    I fought my way back to the moment.
    I was a Taker , I told myself, and Preggers’s exploiting my grief .
    “I don’t want to hurt you,” I told her.
    “A little late for that,” she said.
    Preggers again threw her storm clouds at me, and again I saw a painful memory, one where she was watching as Alex and I kissed, as we got to talking one summer day. It was by the town beach, and Preggers had just left. I thought we were alone. I was talking to Alex about finding a guy for Preggers.
    “That’s a hard one,” Alex said. “Don’t know if I have any friends with arms long enough to wrap around that big a body.”
    I slapped him playfully, but Preggers heard, broke down as she fled.
    The image jolted me back to the present.
    “Cindy,” I said. “Why in the world would you want to go out with a guy after he said that about you?”
    “Because I loved him,” she said, “and I wouldn’t have played the tramp on him like you did. I would’ve been the best girlfriend he ever had.”
    “But you were pregnant.”
    “I would’ve taken care of that.”
    “I’m sure you would’ve, Cindy, as awful as that sounds.” I paused, taking in the coldness of her words. “You’re my friend, and I love you,” I told her, “but right now the entire school is in jeopardy. We can fight later. We have work to do now.”
    The storm clouds of her aura again swelled up.
    “Let them all die,” Preggers said.
    There was a loud crack, like thunder, as her anger and grief mixed, ignited one another.
    The Taker in me felt, was drawn towards, her pain. An image of Alex as he was now appeared, packing his sports bag for the last practice before the big game. His mind wasn’t on his cleats or his soccer jersey. It was on me. He was still in shock. So much of the school was. But as Alex thought back to the times we kissed, made love, his aura showed no thoughts of Preggers, of his would-have-been girlfriend. He had been using her to get back at me. I hurt him deeply in our on-again off-again love. He never forgave me for cheating on him, and he blamed me deeply. He wanted me to hurt like he hurt, and Preggers was the way. This infuriated her to no end.
    “Don’t worry,” she said, flashing me a smirk evil enough to rival Crazy T’s. “I’ll take care of Alex. Burn Girl, Crazy T, promised him to me. I’ll be the one who makes sure Zipper shoots him, who makes sure he goes straight to hell.”
    “Cindy, these are your friends we’re talking about here, people you grew up with, who—”
    “People who used me, who will get used,” she told me. “My life won’t be the only one cut short. I won’t be robbed out of my whole life by you and do nothing. No, I’ll hurt you worse than you hurt me by taking the one person you love the most.”
    “Cindy,” I whispered. “Don’t do this. Let me save you.”
    “I don’t want to be saved.”
    “But I can help—”
    “Save yourself, if you can. Your time to save me