Dark and Twisted by Heidi Acosta Page B

Adrenaline pumps through me, and my heart slams into my chest.
    “I don’t have to explain anything to you, but if you must know, I was Mountain Biking with my cousin,” he says.
    “You were what?” I snap. He is lying. This is the kid who cannot take part in any athletic activity—or so the note from his mom says. During gym, he uses the computer to play World of Warcraft and eats Cheetos from the vending machine in the teachers’ lounge.
    “You did not! Where were you really?” My voice has taken on a hysterical tone.
    “Fine, I was at home.”
    “And? Did you go anywhere?”
    “I am not telling you.”
    I glare at him, giving him the death stare.
    “Okay, God, I was baking cookies with my mom, are you happy?” He glowers at me.
    I let out a shaky laugh, both relieved and disappointed because that means my attacker is still out there.
    “Eden, I swear to God, if you tell anyone, I’ll make sure you stay on the sports column until we graduate.”
    “Tell you what, let me do that piece on homecoming, and your secret is safe with me.”
    He narrows his eyes. “No way. That’s a horrible idea for the article, and no one will read it.”
    I roll my eyes. “What kind of cookies where they, Ralph?”
    “I’m warning you, Eden.” He points his chubby finger at me.
    “Ralph, no one reads the paper besides your mom. Give me the article and your extreme baking will stay our little secret.” I cross my heart.
    He hesitates, but I have him. “Fine, but if the paper goes under, it’s on you.”
    “I can live with that,” I smile.
    “But, you still have to do the sports article,” he whines.
    “Fine.” Truthfully, I wouldn’t tell anyone anyway, but he doesn’t need to know that.
    “Hey, what are you doing?” he barks, obviously mad that I blackmailed him.
    “I need to use the computer.” I sit down at one of the ancient machines, and the machine groans in protest as I turn it on.
    “You can’t use them. They are for the facility.”
    “Ralph, I will only be a minute. I saw Mr. Hays bringing in a box of donuts to the teachers’ lounge.” Being chief and editor gives Ralph special privileges to use the copy machine in the teachers’ lounge and snag whatever food the teachers bring in.
    “I will be back, and you better be gone.”
    I wiggle my fingers at him as he leaves the room.
    I type in the search bar, ‘glowing eyes,’ ‘why would someone’s eyes glow’, and then, ‘reports of people with glowing eyes’. It pulls up everything from radiation poisoning to toxic spills. I even click on o a link that offers contacts that promise to make your eyes glow. There is nothing substantial about people with glowing eyes until I click on to a link about strange and paranormal activity. It’s filled with images of ghosts and aliens. I enlarge the picture, enlarging it. It’s of a man-sized alien with glowing eyes. I shake my head. I don’t want to believe that it was anything to do with aliens or paranormal activity.
    I’m not Essie. I’m not crazy!
    ###
    I set my lunch tray down at the table. A limp looking chicken sandwich sets next to my chocolate milk in a silent protest against Liv.
    “You’re not still mad, are you?” she asks.
    I take a bite out of the sandwich but have to take a drink of my milk to choke it down. It tastes how it looks—like cardboard.
    “Eden, come on, we’re talking about people with glowing eyes. You cannot really believe that the guy’s eyes were glowing,” she argues.
    “That’s not the point.” I rip off another piece of my sandwich, making her cringe.
    She throws her hands in the air. “Then what is?”
    “How about you are supposed to be my best friend? How about a blood promise?” I hold my index finger up. If I squint hard enough, I can still see a tiny white scare from it. I think.
    “So you’re mad because I asked Brittney to be my maid of honor in fifth grade?” She smiles at me.
    “I’m still mad at you for that, but you didn’t