As if she senses my gaze, her sideways eyes snap to mine, and her colorless lips pull away from her teeth in a crooked, black-blood smile, and I know that she’s come to search for me.

I look away and focus on my desk, but the dead girl’s gaze heats my skin like the sun.

Please let her lose interest in me.

If she doesn’t, I have a one-way ticket to the psych ward.

Chapter Two

Anora and the Gold Coin

After trig, I stop outside the classroom to look at my schedule. To be truthful, I’m stalling. The dead girl moved away from the window shortly after I spotted her, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t waiting for me, and if I’m going to have an encounter with the dead, I don’t want witnesses.

As I cradle my new book and syllabus, I bump into the edge of a locker, and my stuff tumbles to the ground. I lean over to pick everything up and turn to find three girls from Mr. Val’s class observing me. The one in the middle was staring at me earlier, and while I don’t read open hostility from them, I can tell they’re curious about me, bordering on suspicious.

But maybe I’m wrong.

“How did you end up at Nacoma?” the middle one asks.

Nope. Always trust your gut. They’re suspicious.

“My mom moved here for work,” I mumble, gathering my stuff and clutching it tightly in my arms.

“Huh,” she says, and it’s clear she doesn’t believe me. I wait for an accusation or a bitchy comment, but she doesn’t say anything else.

She stares a moment longer before she and her two friends turn and walk away. Another girl who’d been lingering in the hallway approaches. She has eyes the color of ice, more white than blue, and her lips are a pretty, pink pout. Her creamy skin is speckled with a collection of moles that look more like thoughtfully placed beauty marks. She reminds me of a ballerina, all lithe and long-limbed, made to look even smaller by the huge cardigan draped over her shoulders, billowing around her body.

“Ignore them,” she says. “Jasmine and Michelle just repeat everything Natalie says, and Natalie thinks she’s queen of the castle and is always in everyone’s business because her father is headmaster.”

Damn. I’d have to draw that kind of attention on my first day, wouldn’t I?

“Well, I guess her dad being headmaster does sort of make her queen of the castle.”

“Don’t let her fool you. She’s not as powerful as she thinks. I’m Lennon.” The girl holds out her hand for me to take.

“Anora.” I shake her hand. I’m just glad she hasn’t called me the new girl yet.