The Hole checked into Ledger Hotel.

It’s not funny, Bryce said.

You thought it was pretty funny when I told you yesterday.

Yeah, well, now I don’t.

I always knew that bitch was insane, Bruce said. She probably ran out of guys to fuck. I bet that’s why she…

I wasn’t listening anymore.

The Ledger Hotel, the Ledger Hotel.

Ledger was no hotel. You’d think the King’s Hotel was the worst place for a girl my age to end up, but you’d be wrong. Ledger was down a long lane, and once me and the burnouts drove down there on Halloween. Driving down the long dark lane, where everything seemed so perfectly normal and serene.

Spooky, Dean had said. Let’s get the fuck out of here.

I thought of Heather held in that haunted house. I thought I might start to cry.

Bryce passed me the new joint, but I just held the skinny spliff in my hand. Suddenly I noticed the stain of his saliva.

There was no way I was putting that thing in my mouth.

When I pulled the knife on Mackie, I’d felt a rush of adrenaline. Call me antisocial, but I’d rather have that feeling than the way I felt when I heard Heather was locked in Ledger. I couldn’t stand feeling. Feeling fucks you up. I know it does.

You look freaked out, Bryce said.

I was getting sick of people telling me I looked freaked out.

She wasn’t even your friend, Bruce said. So what do you care? She always told us she thought you were a snob.

Fuck off, Bruce. You guys are just teasing me, right? Heather’s not in Ledger. Fuck off!

Man, when did you get so mouthy? Just smoke the doob, will you? That’s prime weed.

Maybe they were right. Heather was a bitch. Insane. And her stint in Ledger had nothing to do with the garden hose, nothing to do with my ex-boyfriend, nothing to do with me in the bathroom, mumbling sorry and not telling her I hated those guys for what they did. Look at China—after all, China had been through much worse and she’d managed to get herself on a bus. Mr. Klein told us the theory the Church tried to ban. Survival of the fittest. Only the strong survive.

That’s right, I thought, I know the theory’s true.

I handed the joint to Bruce, brushed the dirt off my hands, and drew out my knife. I should have stabbed the both of them, but I just drew a little heart in the dirt. Don’t ask me why. I drew a little black heart and then I kicked the dirt heart with the edge of my heel.

June fifth, Bryce said. I’ll pick you up at your place. Pack lots of sweaters ’cause it gets real cold at night.