Prophecy Girl (Lacuna Valley #1)

Chapter Nine

Waiting until Friday proved to be torture. She did her best to stay away from her mother, and everyone else for that matter. Looking at Violet made her heart ache in a way she could barely stand. How was she going to protect Violet? Both from their mother, and her own powers? What would Violet make happen next? Should she tell her sister about being a puppetmaster, or let her live in the dark? She was only nine years old.

The backyard had been a place of quiet, a place without thought, and now she couldn't handle just sitting there. Her mind was so full of thoughts that she regularly felt nauseated from the pain of them. She'd have given anything to quiet her mind. She kept trying to force herself to face the reality of her situation, to conceptualize her mother murdering her sister. If she could make her brain accept it, she might figure out a way to stop it. None of it got her anywhere though.

She struggled with being around her friends. It was hard to talk to them without wondering what parts of them were really them, and what parts were just made up by some magical orb thing. Leigh would mention going hunting with her dad, and all Sam could think about was whether she actually enjoyed it, or just thought she did. Maybe Mary wouldn't have her little fights with her mother if her mother wasn't so into energy and stuff, and maybe she wouldn't be if it wasn't for the orb. Maybe her name wouldn't be Marigold, maybe it would just be Mary.

When it was time for gym, Sam was particularly relieved to make her escape from the room after roll call. Nick would draw, and she would think of all the questions she would ask him if they weren't in such a public place, but knowing he knew she was thinking them was better than being completely alone. She was still mad at him, though. Not really mad, more like resentful. It was just so unfair that he knew things about her family, about her whole life, that she didn't. Sometimes she caught herself glaring at him and he would smirk while he drew. As bad as she felt when she realized she was glaring at him again, that smirk made her glare a little longer.

Convincing her mother to let her spend the night at a friend's house had been the highlight of her week. The fight in the kitchen had almost been too much. Sam stood her ground, trying to keep the venom from her voice, and had explained to her mother that she was just going to go over there, go sledding, and hang out with her friend. Her father had been in the room and said that it didn't seem like such a big deal to him, which was as close to standing up to her mother as he ever got. Her mother glared at both of them after, but she eventually relented.

By the time Friday finally came around the weight of all Sam's questions and horrific thoughts made her feel like she was buried under the snow that covered the valley. Originally she'd been waiting for Friday in the hope of having more of her questions answered, but now she was just looking forward to the relief of not having to go home.

Once she'd stood through attendance and left the gym she found Nick standing right outside the door waiting for her. He smiled and took her bag.

"See? I'm all gentlemanly. Aren't you impressed?" Sam rolled her eyes and started walking down the hall. "Hold up!" He grabbed her arm and tugged her back. "This way. We're riding in my high class ve-hi-cle. Nothing but the best on a date with me, ma'am." Sam rolled her eyes again, this time harder, before crossing her arms and glaring at him. "You better be careful, your face is likely to stay that way if you keep it like that all the time. Come on." He took her hand and led the way. His mood was deflating the anger she'd been clinging to. She'd been using it as her only defense from the onslaught of bad thoughts lately, but it felt nice to let it slide off, even just a little bit.

She stared out at Nick's green truck, parked alone in the back corner of the lot. He'd been driving her and Violet home since he told her he didn't actually live on their bus route. He'd been riding her bus, getting off at the next stop, and then walking the mile and a half back to school to drive his truck home in the opposite direction. She tried not to focus on this too much, it only brought back her feelings of embarrassment and anger.