Inertia (Gravity Series, 3.5) (The Gravity Series) (2 page)

Who are you?
Eleanor wanted to ask, but she had no voice. Fear flooded her, making her shake. Worst of all, that familiarity hadn’t gone away.

Without thinking, Eleanor reached up to her throat and ripped the necklace off, just as the woman’s hands were almost upon her.

Eleanor was back in her asylum room instantly, panting and scared, standing up on her feet. She patted her body to make sure it was solid and real, and was relieved to find she was in one piece. The necklace lay discarded on the floor, looking deceptively harmless. She ran to the window and looked out at the gray day—there was no sign of any red in the hedges. No birds, either.

She tore the case off of her pillow, shoved the necklace inside, and made a knot at the end. There was a loose spot in one of the floorboards—she pried it up with her fingers and dropped the bag inside. She never wanted to use it again. It was a trap—the birds were just leading her to that awful woman. Part of her told her that it was important for her to go to her, but it was too dangerous.

She didn’t know if she’d be strong enough. But she had to be—the angry woman in red threatened to show her dark truths about herself, of that she was certain.

Dr. Wallace was right. It was time to try the medication. She couldn’t go on like this. She sat back down on her bed and ran her hands through her short bobbed hair. She would never wear the necklace again. She promised herself that.

And she didn’t…until the day she died.

2. JENNA

SOMETHING STRANGE TRAVELED
in on the wind in May. Something had changed. Jenna couldn’t put her finger on it, but as the winter departed and spring marched towards summer, a chill settled in her bones. Usually she was geeked at this time of year, when school was about to let out, but her anxiety grew instead.

Part of it had to do with her parents fighting. They had always squabbled, but now there were serious threats of divorce because of their money situation. More than once, Jenna came home to see her mother waving a bill in front of her father’s face.

Another reason for the strangeness was her mother, Rachel’s, sudden insistence that Jenna hang out with the popular girls in school. Rachel knew that Jenna hated even being near Lainey and Madison, but she thought it would be good for their image. There was a group in town called the Thornhill Society that Rachel was itching to be a part of, even if meant disregarding her daughter’s wishes.

Jenna already had friends. She wasn’t interested in cultivating new bonds with old rivals.

“Bad news,” her best friend Ariel told her over the phone one weekend. Jenna had just been preparing to go out the door and head over to her house.

“What’s up?”

“My parents roped me into helping with the yard sale. So no go today. But we can still go see the movie tomorrow, if you’re up for it.”

“Sure.”

“I’m sorry,” Ariel said. Ariel was always much more concerned about having a schedule and planning things; Jenna didn’t much care. She preferred to fly by the seat of her pants.

“No prob, Bob. Have fun selling crap.”

Jenna hung up the phone. Rachel was in the kitchen and had figured out the entire conversation just by listening in, which irritated her instantly. Her mother never gave her any privacy and had no problem snooping through her stuff.

Sure enough, Rachel practically shot her own cell phone at her daughter. “Why don’t you give Lainey a call? I have her number right here. You girls can figure out something to do.”

Jenna made a split second decision to just get it over with, to get her mom off her back. Maybe if she saw how little Jenna and Lainey got along, she would stop bugging her about it.

That’s how Jenna ended up at the mall an hour later. Since it was a Saturday, the mall was packed with crowds doing some recreational shopping.

After Lainey and Madison tried on clothes at numerous different stores and compared their sizes, the trio wound up at the food court. Lainey was on a new vegan diet, and loudly proclaimed that she was doing it for health reasons only.

“My doctor actually told me I needed to gain weight,” she informed the other girls.

“Yeah, right,” Madison declared to Jenna when Lainey was out of earshot, scoping out a table. “It’s only a matter of time before she says her doctor told her to add cheeseburgers. She’s just gonna throw it all back up again anyway.”

Now they were sipping on neon ice slushes at the tall table. Lainey watched other girls pass and sniped at each of them while Madison provided the laugh track. The three girls compared their radioactive tongue colors.

“It looks like you gave a Smurf a blowjob,” Lainey declared to Jenna, and she and Madison giggled. Jenna gritted her teeth and resisted the urge to reach across the table and smack Lainey square in her smug face.

Did they do this every day? Just sit around and bitch about other girls’ weights and slut ratings? It was the first time Jenna had truly hung out with them, and she didn’t see the appeal. She’d always thought the popular girls’ lives would be full of glitz and glamour. This was pathetic.

“I’m bored,” Lainey said, pouting her full lips. Her jacket was slung down, baring her orange, tanned shoulders. Her lacy tank top plunged in the front to show off an equally lacy black push-up bra. The combined look seemed a little desperate. “Let’s wreak some havoc. I haven’t pissed off a mall cop in a while.”

“Huh?” Madison asked with her red mouth still attached to her straw.

Lainey didn’t answer, instead hopping off of her seat and walking away. Madison flung her cup into the trash and struggled to catch up. Jenna, whatever vague amusement she’d felt disappearing, wandered through the crowd until she fell into step with them.

“God, fat people should be banned from jeggings,” Lainey sneered loud enough for the jegging-wearer in question to stare at her, open-mouthed. Lainey stuck her tongue out at the girl and walked on.

Jenna kept thinking about how much more entertaining it would have been to have gone to the movies with Ariel. She felt an irrational sense of irritation at Ariel’s parents for keeping her busy and inadvertently subjecting her to this afternoon.

“Isn’t this fun?” Madison asked Jenna as they trailed behind Lainey.

“You’ve got a weird idea of fun.”

Lainey was still scoping out shoppers, narrowing her eyes and looking people over. A short girl in gothy clothes that she must have bought from the clearance section of Hot Topic was walking alone, looking lost. Tortoiseshell glasses magnified her bright, sad green eyes. Her hair was a mess with black ribbons tied in it.

Jenna could just sense panther Lainey zero in on the weird girl. “Weather forecast calls for raining dorks,” Lainey said, making Madison giggle again. Their leader skittered over in that direction and the other girls followed.

Lainey halted in front of the girl, completely blocking her path. “Going somewhere?”

“Um, excuse me,” the girl said meekly, and tried to get around. Jenna felt a sickening wave of discomfort, and looked down.

Lainey backed up a little, but then kicked her foot out swiftly so that the girl tumbled over it. She let out an almost comically loud shout as she hit the floor, her legs twisted beneath her, fingers splayed out on the hard floor.

Passersby in the crowd around them began to laugh. Madison laughed so hard that her face turned tomato and tears squeezed out of her eyes. The discomfort rolled over Jenna again in a cold sweat. She wanted to help the girl up, but she froze.
Chicken,
her brain chided her.

“A job well done, ladies,” Lainey declared, and she and Madison linked arms while they strutted off. Jenna trailed behind them. She looked back once over her shoulder—the girl was still sitting on the ground crying. No one was helping her up. They just stepped over and around her.

Jenna never wanted to be that invisible.

###

“I need to have a discussion with you.”

Jenna’s head shot up and she instantly recognized the look on her mother’s face. Wide eyes, tight lips…what Jenna referred to as the stop sign look. It meant stop what you’re doing and listen.

Jenna finished lacing up her shoes, long immune to her mother’s expressions. “Later. I’m going out for a run.”

“It can wait.”

Jenna sighed and followed her out to the kitchen, making nasty faces behind her back. Things hadn’t been great between them for a long time, and she dreaded even small conversations because they turned into battles.

“Have a seat,” Rachel said, gesturing to the tidy kitchen table.

Jenna thumped down and crossed her arms. “Can we get this over with? I know I was out later than curfew last night. But you can blame it on Princess Lainey. I had to cancel
my
plans with Ariel, just like you wanted me to, just to spend the night trying to stay awake while Lainey bragged about herself to a bunch of guys at the restaurant. I kept telling her I had to get home, but she didn’t care.”

The trip to the mall had not been the end of it. Jenna had been pushed into going out with her new “buddies” nearly ever weekend.

“That’s not what I want to talk to you about,” Rachel said in a clipped voice. “But there you go assuming again. You think you know everything.”

“How could I not assume that?” Jenna struggled to keep the volume of her voice down as irritation swelled inside her. “You want me to do your bidding, then get mad at me when I don’t do it exactly the right way. You wanted me to spend time with them. I could care less.”

“Stop guessing. I do want you to spend time with them. That’s not the issue. You know it’s very important that we all get acquainted. Cliff Ford is a top member of Thornhill.”

Jenna sighed, anger deflating like a burst balloon. “I thought they didn’t have top members. That they were all equal.”

Rachel snorted impatiently. “That’s a joke. Don’t get fooled.”

“So, what is this conversation about?”

“I know you’re not going to like this.” Not a good way to start a discussion. Jenna bristled. “But I think we need to have a talk about your friend Ariel.”

“What kind of a talk?”

“Don’t get all defensive on me. I don’t think you should tell her anything about spending time with Lainey.”

“Why would you suspect that I would? She’ll think I’ve gone insane.”

Rachel appeared pleased, her posture easing up a bit. “That’s for the best. I just think it would be a good idea right now if you took some time apart.”

Jenna jumped back up to her feet. “Look, I know you’ve never liked her. But that’s not fair. It’s not like she’s a bad influence.”

“She is when it comes to these matters.” Rachel was wringing her hands, and for the first time Jenna noticed how fidgety and nervous she looked.

“What’s wrong?”

“I think it’s just important that you stay close to home and stay with your new friends.”

“They’re not my friends,” Jenna insisted, accentuating every syllable. She bounced on her legs, eager to get out of the warm kitchen and away from this argument. All they ever did was run in circles.

“Just think of the stress you’re putting on your father by making us argue,” Rachel said.
Hmm. That’s a new tactic.

“What? You two are producing your own stress just fine.”

Rachel’s eyes went cold, and she moved closer to her daughter, the cords in her neck sticking out. Jenna felt a cold shot of fear and stepped backwards. “You will have respect for me, Jenna. I would have no problem sending you to Sheffield. You wouldn’t be able to even send emails to your little friend.”

Sheffield was a private girl’s school in the middle of the state. It wasn’t the first time Rachel had threatened her, but she was serious this time.

“Fine,” Jenna said, biting down on the word. “I’ll do what you say.”

Jenna jogged out before her mother could protest. The air was warm and fresh outside, and she sped down the street in the afternoon light. She caught speed, running faster than she realized. People stepped out of her path so as not to get hit.

Why was her mother so intent on this Thornhill thing? What kind of tricks was she up to? It was one thing to spend a day or two with Lainey, but she expected them to be like sorority sisters. It was never going to happen.

Yet, Jenna knew that her mother’s threat was real. Rachel wouldn’t hesitate to get rid of Jenna if she stood in her way. She probably already had her bags packed somewhere in the attic. Mothers and daughters, huh?

Jenna ran faster, ran until she had to use all of her effort just to breathe.

###

Later that night, Jenna stood in front of her mirror. She was getting dressed up, something she hardly ever did. A flowing turquoise shirt and a pair of jean shorts showed off her best assets—her thin but toned legs. She’d already done up her curls with hairspray.

When Lainey had asked her out on yet another excursion, she’d almost been tempted to decline. Until she heard who else would be there, that is.

Her phone vibrated, demanding attention. She picked it up, frowning at Ariel’s text. They’d made plans to go to Rollerama that night. She’d totally forgotten. Holding her purse beneath her arm, she quickly texted out a hasty reply that she wasn’t feeling well. Hopefully Ariel wouldn’t see right through it.

A horn honked from out front and she shoved the phone into her pocket. Racing down the stairs, she went out to the car waiting for her. Lainey and Madison were in the front seat, both wearing skimpy dresses that put Jenna’s outfit to shame. But Jenna didn’t notice much. She smiled at the guy in the back seat.

Ambrose smiled back and scooted over as she got in next to him. Jenna held her breath, feeling a delicious sense of anticipation come over her at being near him.

“Hope you’re ready to get wasted off your ass,” Lainey said crudely as she smashed the gas pedal and the car lurched forward. Jenna didn’t pay much attention to her. Madison pushed a half-empty bottle of Bacardi in her direction.

“Here’s something if you’re thirsty,” she said, slurring already.

Jenna screwed off the metal cap and took a liberal gulp, feeling it burn her throat and chest. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.