Silence (Hush, Hush #3)

“He said I might hallucinate?” (..)
I felt the sting of tears, but I refused to cry. Why me? Of all the billions of people out there, why me? Who did this to me? My mind was spinning in circles, trying to point a finger at someone, but I didn’t have a face, a voice. I didn’t have one shred of an idea.

“We should order pizza and watch movies tonight,” one of them said.
“No can do, girls. It’s just me and Susanna tonight.” I recognized the voice as belonging to Marcie Millar. She was in the middle of the lineup, tidying her strawberry blond side ponytail, pinning it in place with a pink plastic flower.
“You’re ditching us for your mom? Um, ouch?”
“Um, yes. Deal with it,” Marcie said.

(..) “Don’t even start,” Marcie said, but the smile in her voice clearly stated she was flattered by their disappointment. “My mom needs me. Girls’ night out.”
“Is she … you know … depressed?” the girl I believed to be Addyson asked.
“Seriously?” Marcie laughed. “She got to keep the house. She’s still a member of the yacht club. Plus she made my dad buy her a Lexus SC10. It’s sooo cute! And I swear half the single guys in town have already called or stopped by.” Marcie ticked each item off on her fingers so fluidly it made me think she’d been rehearsing this speech.
“She’s so beautiful.” Cassie sighed.
“Exactly. Whoever my dad hooks up with will be a major downgrade.”
“Is he seeing anybody?”
“Not yet. My mom has friends all over. Somebody would have seen something. So,” she transitioned with a gossipy voice, “did you guys see the news? About Nora Grey?”
My knees went a little soft at the mention of my name, and I flattened a hand to the wall for support.
“They found her in the cemetery, and they’re saying she can’t remember anything,” Marcie went on. “I guess she’s so messed up she even ran from the police. She thought they were trying to hurther.”
“My mom said she was probably brainwashed by her kidnapper,” Cassie said. “Like some skeezy guy could have made her think they were married.”
“Ew!” they all said in unison.
“Whatever happened, she’s damaged goods now,” Marcie said. “Even if she says she can’t remember anything, she knows what happened subconsciously. She’s going to be dragging around that baggage for the rest of her life. She might as well wrap herself in yellow tape that says, ‘Stay out and do not cross.’”
They giggled. Then Marcie said, “Back to class, girlies. I’m clean out of late passes. The secretaries keep locking them in their drawers. Whores.”

“We can’t outrun them to the Tahoe, and even if we could, I’m not dragging you into a car chase with Nephilim. DEAR READER They’ll walk away from a rolled or totaled car, but you might not. Better to take our chances on foot and circle back to the car after they’ve given up. There’s a nightclub a block from here. Not the cleanest place, but we can hide there.” 

“Could you teach me?”
“If I taught you everything I know, we’d need a considerable amount of time alone together.”
Unsure if he was suggesting anything, I said, “I’m sure we could keep it … professional.”
“Speak for yourself,” he said in that same steady tone that made it hard to guess his intentions.

I strove for composure. Angry or not, I could be rational.“You lied, Vee. You looked me in the eye and lied. I’d believe it of my mom, but not you.” I pushed the door open. “How were you going to explain yourself when I got my memory back?” I demanded suddenly.
“I hoped you wouldn’t get it back.” Vee threw her hands in the air. “There. I said it. You were better off without it, if it meant not remembering that freak show. You don’t think straight when you’re around him. It’s like you see the one percent of him thatmight be good and miss the other ninety-nine percent of pure psychopathic evil!”
My jaw fell open.
“Anything else?” I snapped.
“Nope. That sums up my feelings pretty adequately on the subject.”
I shot out of the car and slammed the door.
Vee rolled down her window and poked her head out. “When you come back to your senses, you have my number!” she called out.