The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness Page A

hands again. “And then the vampires came. My sister fell in love. Before it was all over, she and every one of her friends were dead.”
    “Oh, no,” Meredith says, wide-eyed.
    “My mom’s been moving around from base to base ever since. Keeping busy so she never has to think about it. But we show up here and now there’s two dead kids and I don’t know anyone…”
    “Yeah,” I say. “Yeah, all right.” We’re quiet for a second, then I say, “You know, Henna’s older brother–”
    “I know,” he says. “Cool to talk to someone who knows what it’s like.”
    Shit. I mean,
come on
. How am I supposed to react to all of this? How am I supposed to hate him
now
?
    “You have a really stupid haircut,” I say.
    “I’m self-conscious about my ears,” he says.
    There’s a burst of laughter from the golfers and we look up to see Mel pulling a sheepish Dr Steve out of the six-inch-deep water trap.
    “We good?” Nathan asks.
    “Oh, God,” I groan. “We were until you said ‘We good?’.”
    Mel and Dr Steve head off to a late dinner together, so I take her car to drive Meredith home. Jared drives himself, and Nathan gives Henna a lift. Before they go, Henna hugs me.
    “Clear doesn’t mean I know what to do,” she says, so only I can hear it. “It’s just that the accident made it clear how important you are to me, Mikey. How much I love you.”
    “Just not in your stomach,” I try to smile.
    She doesn’t say anything for a second, then, “You working Sunday?”
    “No,” I say. “Getting graduation pictures in the afternoon. I’ll be under about five inches of make-up.”
    “Pick me up after,” she says. “I’ll skip evening church. Let’s do something. Just the two of us.”
    “Okay.”
    “Okay?”
    “Okay.”
    And then she leaves. With Nathan.
    Meredith falls asleep singing “Bold Sapphire” while we’re driving home. She wakes up once and says, “I wish you and Mel weren’t going away.” Then she curls into herself and goes back to sleep.

C HAPTER T HE N INTH ,
in which Satchel visits the police station looking for her uncle; the other officers are stern with her and she sees a glowing blue deep in their eyes; her uncle – wearing a scarf despite the heat of the day – has the same glow; he threatens Satchel, and she flees the police station, finding second indie kid Finn at her house; for a moment it seems like he might kiss her, but she touches the amulet and sees another flash of the handsomest boy she’s ever seen; it’s so strong, she has to run up to her room so she can ruminate alone.

    “Did you ask him yet?”
    “It’s not really that simple,” Jared says. “And he’s not really a he. You look like you’re being treated for burns.”
    I touch the make-up the photographer has slapped on me like frosting on a cake. My fingertips come away peach.
    “Don’t touch it!” she yells from where she’s setting up the camera.
    “Maybe I should just go with the black eyes,” I tell Jared.
    “At least the bandages are off,” he says.
    “Yeah, thanks. So did you ask him? Or her? Or them?”
    “It’s a bit less certain than that with some Gods. But yes, I asked the God of Deer about your deer zombie.”
    “And?”
    “Nothing. Hadn’t heard about it, looked into it, said,
Beyond my realms
.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means whatever this is, it’s nothing to do with the Gods.” He squints and rubs his nose. No make-up for him. “Look, Mike, most Gods don’t care.”
    “About what?”
    “About anything. Other than gaining dominance over other Gods and telling you how wonderful they are and demanding that you say the same.” There’s some feeling in his voice when he says it. “There’s nothing like a bunch of Gods to show you how alone you really are.”
    “Dude,” I say. “I’m sitting right here. You’re not alone.”
    “You’re up!” the photographer says to me. “And make it quick. That stuff’s gonna turn into a lava flow