Fade by Lisa McMann Page B

on the list. He has
    more of them in his classes than Janie does. But they remain aloof,
    associating him with the popular Hill crowd, because of his past ties to
    Shay Wilder. He"s frustrated.
    There are eighteen Chem. 2 students in all this year. There were thirteen
    Chem. 2 students last year. All thirteen graduated and went to college,
    Cabel discovers, some of them as far away as southern California.
    Doggedly, Cabel tracks them, in case their lives changed somehow in
    the nine months since graduation. He spends hours each evening on the
    computer, checking their blogs, their Facebook and Myspace pages,
    looking for any wild tales they may have thought they were keeping
    semiprivate.
    And together, they have a whole lot of nothing.
    ı
    The one and only lead Janie has at the moment is Stacey O"Grady from
    first semester of Chem. 2. She"s in Janie"s study hall. Stacey has horrible
    nightmares, if she sleeps at all. Which is rare. But lots of people have horrible dreams, and it doesn"t mean anything,
    as far as Janie can tell. Even if the dream is about a rapist. Janie knows
    that a dream about being chased by a rapist could possibly be literal, but
    more likely it"s a hint of an underlying fear in some other part of your
    life. The fear that something"s catching up to you, or that you can"t run
    fast enough, or that you"ve lost your voice and can"t scream—all could
    simply indicate being overwhelmed with school or home pressures or
    feeling helpless to change things. Being a senior could do that to many
    people.
    Still, Janie wills Stacey to fall asleep in study hall again, so she can get a
    better look.
    ı
    Six of the ten students in Janie"s Chem. 2 class are female. She doesn"t
    know any of them well, although they"re friendly enough with one another. None of them are going to the chem fair. When Desiree Jackson suggests a study group night at her house before
    an upcoming test, Janie jumps at it. Maybe she can get some information
    that way. Several others like the study group idea too. They agree to
    meet Thursday night at seven at Desiree"s.
    ı
    Mr. Durbin hands out the flyers for the March 4 party, and Janie raises a
    question. “What do you think about inviting the first semester group to
    join us? More people, more fun, I"m thinking. Or maybe you don"t have
    room for so many in your house, Mr. Durbin.”
    Janie has driven by Mr. Durbin"s house. Cabel managed to snag the
    floor plan from the township office. She"s got it memorized. It"s a three-bedroom home with a large kitchen that overlooks the spacious
    great room. With its finished basement, the house is easily large enough
    for twenty or more.
    Mr. Durbin scratches his chin. “I like that idea. Class, what do you think? You guys good with that?”
    The class wants to know who those people would be. Mr. Durbin flips
    through the eight names by memory, and the consensus is affirmative.
    “Cool,” Janie says. “I"ll make some more flyers. We should get a head
    count on how many are planning on coming.”
    “Good idea. Sheesh, eighteen kids. You guys are gonna break my bank
    account,” Mr. Durbin jokes.
    Several girls offer to bring appetizers, and Mr. Durbin gratefully accepts
    the offer. Janie"s puzzled now. She thought he might balk at the idea.
    But he"s giving no indication of this being anything other than a cool
    party for science geeks.
    “Don"t let me see you bringing any alcohol,” Mr. Durbin says lightly,
    and grins like he"s young enough to be hip with the thoughts of seniors
    and wants to nip it in the bud. But the mere acknowledgment sets several
    students exchanging mischievous glances.
    He said that on purpose , Janie thinks. To get the students thinking about
    it.
    After class Mr. Durbin stops Janie. “Good idea for the party, Janie.
    Maybe a few of you girls could come early to help set it up?” He"s giving her a helpless bachelor look.
    The back of Janie"s neck is prickling, but she smiles excitedly.
    “Awesome. This is going to