Free Hunters of Chaos by Crystal Velasquez Page B

enough to make her a pariah on this campus. Haven’t you even noticed how hardly anyone talks to her besides her juvenile delinquent roommate, Shani?”
    I flashed back to gym class, when everyone was pairing up. Was that why only she and I were left standing? I’d thought the other girls were intimidated since she was so much better at track. But maybe that hadn’t been the reason. Maybe thanks to Lin, Doli had needed a buddy just as much as I had.
    â€œShani’s some kind of nutcase who’s been kicked out of eight different boarding schools, so it figures that she’d like Doli. But you don’t have an excuse. Besides,” Nicole went on, “that girl doesn’t even belong here.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?” I said, feeling the control I had over my anger begin to slip.
    Nicole opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it and closed it again. Finally she crossed her arms and said, “If you don’t know, I’m not going to spell it out for you. But you should do yourself a favor and take my advice: Stay away from Doli. I wouldn’t steer you wrong. You’re my protégée!”
    â€œSo this is you looking out for me?” I shot back.
    â€œNaturellement!”
    â€œWell, thanks, but no thanks.”
    Nicole sighed as if she were an underappreciated mother. “Fine,” she said. “Do what you want. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
    I wanted to tell her that I didn’t need her warnings or her advice about who my friends should be, but instead I just turned away. I could tell that arguing with Nicole about this was pointless. Good thing I had to go to my next class soon. I decided to quickly check my e-mail to see if my aunt and uncle had written me back, and then I would leave the room and stay gone for as long as I could. But when I sat down in my chair and moved to open my laptop, I noticed a square white envelope on the desk. It had the school’s insignia on the front with my name written in blue ink beneath it.
    â€œWhat’s this?” I asked, picking it up.
    Nicole, who had been checking her outfit in the full-length mirror on our closet door, turned to see what I was holding. “Oh, yeah,” she said. “Our weirdo history teacher dropped it off for you. Looks like she wants to be your new BFF too!” She giggled in that snide way that lets you know someone is laughing at you, not with you.
    I ignored her and tore open the envelope. Inside, I found a plain white card with a neatly printed note in blue ink.
    Ana,
    I hope you have enjoyed your time on campus so far. This evening I am holding a small reception for a select group of students to be held at the school’s private museum. As the museum curator, I would like to acknowledge certain exceptional individuals who have much to contribute to the school. I would love for you to attend and allow me to properly welcome you to Temple Academy. Please join us at the museum at 8:00 p.m. I look forward to seeing you then.
    Sincerely,
    Ms. Benitez
    This is weird, I thought. Why would Ms. Benitez invite me to a special reception? What made her think I was so exceptional? I hadn’t done anything yet, unless you counted winning a relay race in gym class. But since, according to my roommate, I was on the verge of becoming the new campus outcast, I figured it might be a good opportunity to make some friends besides Nicole. At this point, what did I have to lose? I tucked the card into my book bag and left for class without saying another word.

chapter 7
    T HE PRIVATE MUSEUM, LOCATED RIGHT next to the tennis courts, was smaller than I’d imagined. Maybe because I’d been to the Cleveland Museum of Art so many times, I’d been expecting a massive entryway facing an even larger pool of water. But compared to the rest of the buildings on campus, this one was modest, except for the tall black steel gate