Free Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend

stalker in the woods, Jeremy,” she yelled, jerkily wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. “You almost just gave me a heart attack.”
    Her heart was still pounding, and she could feel the adrenaline pulsing through her veins. “What the hell were you doing? I think I’m having heart palpitations — for real. If my left arm starts going numb, it’s your ass.”
    He bit his lip like he was trying to hold back a laugh. “Deal.”
    He jerked his head back down the path. “I just came from Cranston-Wim. I tried to call your name, but I think you had your headphones in.” He motioned to the ear buds that now hung limp around her neck.
    “It’s okay, I just … wow, I really thought I was about to get dragged off into the woods and chopped up into pieces.”
    “I know, I’m an idiot. I saw you run this way like half an hour ago, though, and you never came back even though you left this.” He held up her gray sweatshirt. “It sounds so stupid now, but I was kinda worried. It’s so dark out here.”
    She mumbled a thanks and took it back. She was glad he couldn’t see her blush.
    “What are you doing, anyway?” he said.
    She sighed. “Trying to get ready for this damn running test. I’m new, and I don’t like running on unfamiliar turf.” She took a deep breath and looked down at her shoes. “Sorry about being so awkward earlier, by the way. I just didn’t expect to see anyone else on the field.”
    He smiled. “No worries. It’s Sadie, right? The transfer from Oregon?”
    “Yup. Portland. You?”
    “San Diego. I’m dreading our test, too. Everyone tells me it’s brutal.”
    “Is yours on Monday?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Ours, too.”
    They looked at each other for a moment. Sadie glanced at her watch.
    “Well, I should really head back.” She motioned toward the path. “But it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll probably see you on the field? Next time try not to unwittingly cause my premature death.”
    He smiled widely, and she felt her stomach flip.
    “Definitely.” He reached up and ran a hand through his hair. “At least I hope so. Good luck on Monday.” He held up his hand in a wave and then turned back toward Graff.
    She watched as he ducked under a few tree branches, her stomach now flipping around like a kid three doses behind on his Ritalin. She put her headphones in and turned back toward Keating. Double crap.

    “He said what?” Jessica screeched.
    Sadie grabbed a striped pillow off of Jessica’s bed and sat down, cross-legged, with it in her lap. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
    “Oh screw that, Sadie. You’re trying so hard not to smile right now.”
    Sadie grinned and hid her face in the pillow. “Okay, fine — it was pretty cute. But of course, I made a total ass of myself.”
    “No way. He said he was worried about you and that he hoped he would see you soon, so you basically have a date to the next formal already. Un-effing-believable.” She crossed her arms and pouted.
    Sadie swatted her with the pillow. “For all I know he’ll turn out to be a complete douchebag who has pet names for both of his balls and talks about himself in the third person.”
    Jessica grinned. “Well, he does go to Graff.” She yawned. “Okay, get out of my face already. I need to get some sleep. You should too. First practice is at 9 A.M. tomorrow. Breakfast at 7:45?”
    “Sure.”
    “See you in the morning,” Jessica called as Sadie shut the door behind her.
    She padded back to her room. The hallway lights were dimmed, but she passed Madison as she was huddled in one of the window bays talking on a bright pink phone. Sadie waved, but Madison just frowned and tapped the face of her diamond-encrusted watch.
    Trix and Gwen were both in bed when she got back from the showers, and she could hear one of them mumbling in her sleep. She sat down on her bed and cracked open her laptop to check her e-mail. She had one new message, but she didn’t recognize the sender. It was from an