Free The Second Sign by Elizabeth Arroyo Page B

to see inside her soul.
    “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
     Lightheaded from the drink, she remembered the last time she felt
     like this. Pat had spiked her drink and got her to go with him to
     his bedroom where all hell broke loose. Or at least that’s how she
     remembered it. It all became a jumbled mess in her memory,
     especially since the fire happened that same night.
    “Hey.” He cupped her chin, forcing her to look at
     him. “Did you take a drink?” he asked, concerned.
    She shoved him back hard and started walking
     fast.
    “Gabby, you know you can’t drink.” He began trailing
     beside her until finally he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop.
     “I’ll take you home.”
    “No,” she almost screamed. She couldn’t think
     straight. Maybe the only way to stop the fear is to succumb to
     him . That thought scared her more than anything.
    He cocked his head as if she spoke aloud something
     he didn't quite understand, and she broke free from his grip and
     ran. Fast.
    After her lungs threatened to burst from her chest,
     she stopped running. Running in tennis shoes was one thing. In
     flats with the straps digging into your flesh was quite another.
     Now she was alone, at night, in the middle of nowhere.
    The streets dark and desolate, she decided to cut
     through a grassy knoll west, as a light breeze picked up, forcing
     her to shudder. She couldn't get the image of Jake and Alexi out of
     her head. Why did it bother her so much? Could she be jealous?
     Really? Jake was nothing to her and yet a well of emotions
     scattered throughout her very being. Anger. Regret. Fear. Anger
     some more. And finally acceptance. Gabby had nothing on Alexi.
     Gabby the freak would never have anyone like Jake care for her.
    Stopping at a narrow road, she caught a hint of
     sulfur in the air, tasting it in the back of her throat. The trees
     swayed, and the leaves fluttered with the breeze. Shadows, created
     by the dim light of the moon, loomed over her, menacing as if they
     intended to peel away from whatever substance gave them birth and
     swallow her. The hairs on the nape of her neck prickled. Someone
     was dancing over her grave, she thought.
    She continued west, walking fast, and stopped at St.
     Benedicts Church. Or what used to be St. Benedicts Church. The
     building no longer stood. A fire had ravaged it to the ground. She
     stared at it in disbelief. Father Kane had been one of the few
     adults in town who didn’t blame her for last year’s fire. His kind
     manner had made her believe that there were good people in the
     world.
    “Tragedy, ain’t it?”
    Gabby whirled to the small voice, almost jumping out
     of her skin.
    Marty Gary lived clear on the other side of town.
     Gabby had known Marty since they were both in fifth grade. Gabby
     would sneak off to the fairgrounds where she blended in with all
     the other freaks. She found Marty there under the boardwalk one
     night in the arms of a much older boy. The older boy had told Gabby
     to scram, but Gabby stood her ground, peering over at a very scared
     Marty. Gabby hadn’t waited for another threat when she picked up a
     rock and threw it at the boy, hitting him square on the head,
     knocking him silly. Marty had laughed, and with tears streaming
     down her face, ran to Gabby and they were friends ever since. Marty
     wasn’t the best judge of character, but she was one of the few
     friends Gabby had.
    “When did you get in?” Marty asked.
    “Last night.”
    “How’s Max?”
    Gabby knew Marty had a mad crush on Max, but
     everyone who met him ended up having a crush on him. “He’s good.
     Out in New York right now. He should be here in a couple of
     days.”
    Marty nodded, her dirty blonde hair moving with her.
     “Right, your birthdays.” She smiled, though her gray eyes lowered
     to the ground. Marty had been there when the fire broke out last
     year, on her birthday.
    After Pat and Max had disappeared in a fight that