Free Lurker by Stefan Petrucha Page A

skool?
    MC9010025 : 2 words 4 ya: Calculus test.
    Kylenevers : Calculus is ez.
    MC9010025 : So not
    Kylenevers : Things back 2 normal? Sort of?
    MC9010025 : Again…so not. The teachers r. We’re getting homework again, and tests!!! Ugh! But most of us r still weirded out. I can’t beleev it’s been a week since Nicki died.
    Kylenevers : We should chat about something else.
    MC9010025 : I know. Ur right, but it’s like being in 1 of those zombie movies
    Kylenevers : You like zombie movies?
    MC9010025 : Not
    Kylenevers : Oh.
    MC9010025 : I dated a guy 4 awhile and he took me 2 1. Ick!
    Kylenevers : LOL. I like them even though they look so fake
    MC9010025 : So, uv met a lot of zombies? LOL
    Kylenevers : Some. They aren’t very good kissers.
    MC9010025 : GROSS! LMAO.
    Kylenevers : Do u like 2 kiss?
    MC9010025 : Doesn’t every1?
    Kylenevers : No. Actually.
    MC9010025 : Well, I do.
    Kylenevers : Do u think u’d like 2 kiss me?
    Mandy leaned back in her chair and stared at the keyboard. This was the first time either of them had said anything remotely romantic. For all of their chatting, they usually just joked around and shared stories about their families, friends, and lives. Did she want to kiss him? She wanted to write yes , but it seemed way stupid. She didn’t even know what his voice sounded like, and thisrealization made her feel really strange. Maybe they should talk on the phone. Or actually meet!
    MC9010025 : Maybe
    Kylenevers : Maybe? U fraid I’m going to taste like zombie?
    MC9010025 : LOL! What do zombies taste like?
    Kylenevers : pork chops soaked in bleach
    MC9010025 : Ugh! So gross.
    Kylenevers : U asked.
    MC9010025 : Well, since I’m asking questions, do you think we could talk on the phone sometime?
    Kylenevers : And ruin the magic? LOL
    MC9010025 : There’s magic? Did I miss something;-)
    Kylenevers : LMAO. Thnx. I don’t feel dissed or anything. Crap! Mom’s calling me. Gotta run. Chat tomorrow?
    MC9010025 : Sure
    Kylenevers : O! If you’re serious about
    Prague, check out Karlstejn Castle. It’s totally kewl. Way goth inside. Awesome views. It was the only thing I really got 2 Cwhen I went.
    MC9010025 : K
    Kylenevers : C U
    MC9010025 : TTFN
    Kylenevers : back atcha.
    Mandy smiled. She ran her cursor over the name of the castle, copied it, and then closed the IM window. She Googled the name and spent a few minutes surfing pages, looking at pictures and reading blurbs of copy about it. It really wasn’t a very pretty place, she decided, but it was cool. The place looked like one of those castles they used in old, old horror movies—movies from the ’60s. It was the kind of place where insane barons killed their wives in dank torture chambers, the kind of place for ghosts and vampires. One interior shot showed a massive stone room with wooden tables and a faded brown tapestry hanging from iron bars. Kyle was right; it was totally goth. Her imagination let loose, and she pictured Kyle leading her through the dark halls of Karlstejn Castle, gripping her hand tightly to guide her. They were not tourists in this place, but rather the owners—a king, a queen. Mandy shook her head, telling herself how silly she was being.
    She closed the Web page.
    Not quite ready to let go of Kyle for the night, she clicked on the file with his picture, and it burst across her screen. She followed the wave of his blond hair as it swept back from his forehead and looked into his clear green eyes that sparkled with embarrassment beneath the hand he used to salute her.
    â€œWeird,” Mandy said, squinting at the picture.
    Somehow the image seemed different. Kyle was still a hottie holding a hairbrush and saluting her, but he seemed to have shadows on his face that she hadn’t noticed before. They ran along the bottom of his cheekbones, giving him a slightly gaunt look. Something was strange about the hairbrush, also: The light that reflected on its