Free Projection by Risa Green Page B

her stomach—no, Jessica’s stomach—began to growl. Suddenly, she was starving. She had no idea when, or if, Jessica had eaten dinner that night. Jessica’s stomach gurgled again, loudly. She had to eat something. There was no way she was going to chance going to the kitchen for a snack, but she knew Jessica always kept a stash of candy in her bottom desk drawer, so Gretchen got out of bed and opened it up.
    Ick
. Just a bag full of fun-sized Butterfingers. They were Jessica’s favorite, but Gretchen hated them. She couldn’t stand the taste of peanut butter, and besides, she liked chocolatebars that were smooth and creamy, like Milky Way or Three Musketeers. The crunchy, flaky consistency of Butterfingers was nauseating to her.
    Another grumble came, as if Jessica’s stomach sensed the presence of food.
Oh, what the hell
, Gretchen thought. She reached for a piece of candy and peeled off the wrapper. It was better than going hungry all night. She popped it in her mouth and began to chew quickly, hoping it would go down fast so she could get it over with and satisfy Jessica’s noisy, complaining gut. But as the crunchy inside of the chocolate bar hit her taste buds, she slowed down and began to savor it.
    This is delicious
, she thought.
Why do I never eat these?
She opened up another one and took a cautious bite. Still delicious. For a second, she was confused—why did she suddenly like this?—but then she realized that she didn’t. They weren’t her taste buds reacting this way to the Butterfingers. They were Jessica’s.
    This is so freaking weird
.
    By the sixth piece of candy, Gretchen was feeling full again, if not slightly ill. She crawled back into bed and picked up the vampire book again. Four chapters later, there was a knock at the door. Gretchen’s heart sped up, and she felt panicky. Jessica had told her that Michelle and Rob were out that night; the house had been empty when she’d gotten there earlier.
Crap
. She needed more time to get used to the idea of being Jessica before she had to actually talk to anyone. But now she had no choice.
    “Come in,” she said, trying to control the shakiness in her voice. The door pushed open. It was Rob.
    “Hey,” he said. His eyes narrowed as he took her in. “Are you
reading
?” He said the word with a mix of disdain and disbelief, as if he’d asked if she was plungingtoilets. Of course: Jessica didn’t read books. She tossed the book aside.
    “Oh, yeah, it’s just some book Gretchen told me to read. It’s
really
boring.”
    Rob approached the bed and picked up the book, studying the back cover. He began to read from it an amused voice.
    “After a summer romance, Emma and Kyle fall madly in love. But Emma doesn’t know the ugly truth about Kyle’s past or his real identity. Can you have a relationship when one person is hiding the most important part of himself?”
    “I
know
,” Gretchen said, trying to sound like Jessica. “It’s
so
stupid.”
    “Gretchen told you read this, huh? How is Gretchen?” Rob asked.
    Gretchen tried not to stiffen. “She’s, um, you know. She’s as good as she can be, I guess, under the circumstances.”
    Rob shook his head. “It’s really such a shame what happened. Do they have any leads yet?”
    “No. Not that I know of. The detectives told …” she almost said
me
, but caught herself just in time. “They told Gretchen that it’s a cold case. No leads, no suspects. They can’t find anyone who might have had a grudge against her or a reason for wanting her dead. And you know, normally the husband would automatically be a suspect, but like, a dozen people saw—”
Her
dad. Not
my
dad.
Her
dad. “Saw her dad downstairs while it was happening.”
    Rob nodded thoughtfully. “And what about Gretchen? What does she think?”
    Gretchen forced a smile. “Oh, well, Gretchen thinks that itwas a girl in our class.”
    Rob looked up, surprised. “A girl in your class? Who?”
    “Ariel Miller. You