Free Last Breath by Diane Hoh Page B

across his forehead, and Cassidy had to clench her fists to keep from reaching out and brushing them back into place. “You’re not pulling my leg, are you?” he asked suspiciously.
    She didn’t blame him. “No. I’m telling you the truth. Do you know anyone who has a car like that?”
    He shook his head again. “Nope. Campus is full of late-model sports cars, but I’ve never noticed a black TransAm. And I think I would have.” He fell silent then, stirring his coffee absentmindedly, staring down at his cup.
    Cassidy waited for him to say, “You know, you’ve been under a lot of stress lately. Maybe you imagined the car. If you’d eased up on your extracurricular activities like I told you to, this wouldn’t be happening.”
    But he didn’t say any of that. Their conversation was awkward, both aware of underlying tension, but they talked about the upcoming dance, and the scheduled bike ride, and Travis didn’t once suggest that Cassidy’s imagination was overactive.
    Ann did, though, when she, Sophie, and Talia arrived a few minutes later and squeezed in beside Travis and Cassidy. The look on Ann’s face when she saw the two sitting together didn’t escape Cassidy’s notice. Ann’s eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened, the way they did when someone in 56A borrowed one of her sweaters or blouses and tossed it on the floor after wearing it. “If you’re through with it,” she had said coolly more than once, picking up the garment and shaking out the wrinkles, “give it to me. I’ll take better care of it than that.”
    She could easily, Cassidy thought as Ann slid in beside Travis, say the same thing to me about Travis.
    Cassidy hadn’t intended to tell the others about the car, but before she could stop Travis, he’d told them, ending the story by asking if any of them knew who might own such a car.
    They all shook their heads no.
    And Ann said casually, “Weird that no one saw it happen.”
    “There weren’t any cars on the road just then,” Cassidy said.
    Ann nodded. “Um-hum. Cassidy, what on earth were you doing walking on the highway alone, anyway? Didn’t you have a date with Sawyer tonight?”
    The question Cassidy had been dreading had arrived.
    She might as well tell them. They’d hear about her ill-timed arrival at Nightmare Hall soon enough. She’d rather they heard it from her first.
    Forcing a light laugh, she said, “You’re not going to believe this.” But she knew they would. Unfortunately, they would.
    They did.
    Sophie and Talia were sympathetic, tossing off the mistake lightly, as if they did the same kind of thing every day. Which they didn’t. Sophie was a procrastinator and Talia was a fitness nut, but they never got their days mixed up.
    It was Ann’s reaction that set Cassidy’s teeth on edge. Ann put one hand on Travis’s arm and said, her words laced with disbelief, “I can’t believe you read that invitation wrong. I mean, the lettering was so clear . I remember thinking how professional it looked. Cath is very artistic.” Then she added with what sounded like genuine concern, “Cassidy, that medicine you take doesn’t cause hallucinations, does it? I mean, there are lots of medications that do. Dr. Bruin has mentioned some of them in class. Maybe epinephrine is one of them.”
    Cassidy’s cheeks grew warm. “You don’t believe me about the car?”
    “I believe that you saw a car. But no one in this booth has ever seen a car like that on campus, have we, guys?”
    Sophie shook her head sadly, and Talia said, “I haven’t. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”
    “Thanks, Talia,” Cassidy said, sliding out of the booth, her movements stiff. “Now, if you guys don’t mind, I think I’ll just take my addlepated brain and trot on back to campus before I start seeing little green men marching toward this booth carrying tiny little trays. I see Torey Mullins up there. I’ll walk back with her.”
    She had already started down the aisle when