Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
I head to the right, where the slope isn’t as sharp and where a creek empties out into the ocean. I walk through the hemlocks until I’m at the base of the cliff, but I must be at the tail end of it because it’s not very high.
A twig snaps behind me.
I whirl around.
There’s nothing but the trees.
Trunks, branches, and shadows.
But one of the shadows is shaped like a man.
And I realize someone is there.
Standing completely still.
Staring at me.
CHAPTER 10
I freeze.
It’s Clayton.
“What are you doing?” I ask, really hoping he doesn’t try anything, or I’m going to have to scream. “He told us to stay far apart.”
“I just wanted to talk to you,” he says, slowly coming closer. “Figure out what’s really going on.”
He steps forward, but I put my hand out. “Stay right there.”
Thankfully, he listens.
“Do I make you uncomfortable?” he asks, scratching at a spot below his ear.
“Yes.” Shit, my heart is racing. I hate confrontation like this.
“Why?”
“Because you’re an asshole,” I tell him bluntly. “At least you are to me.”
He lets out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “We’re more alike than you think.”
“What does that mean? No, we’re not. You don’t know me.”
“I know more about you than you think.”
I glare at him, calling his bluff.
He gives me a sinister smile. “Neither of us should be here.”
I swallow at that. My stomach twists uneasily.
He doesn’t know about my lost scholarship, does he?
“You know it,” he goes on. “I think it’s cruel that you’re here at all. That any of us are.”
“Cruel?”
“Don’t you wonder why they have us doing surveys and foraging? It’s all bullshit. It’s all busywork. They’ll never let us actually see what they’re working on. It’s all a ruse, all a way to make the foundation look accessible and honest when it’s not. We were chosen for a reason. Do you really think you’re some sort of genius because they accepted you here? I shouldn’t have gotten in at all. My grades were never good enough.”
I blink slowly, trying to understand what he’s saying. “Well, my grades were good enough,” I assure him, raising my chin slightly.
“Right. They must have been. Since you’re so special.”
“Stop saying that. I put in the work. I deserve to be here.”
“They think you’re special,” he says. “That’s not a good thing, Sydney.”
I look at him a little closer. His eyes are bloodshot, his fingers twitching slightly. “Clayton, look, I don’t know what you’re going on about. I really don’t. If you want to call me special, fine. But if I am, then we’re all special. And whether this is busywork, I don’t know. We all have different reasons for being here. They can’t exactly cater the curriculum to everyone.”
Suddenly, he comes closer, stopping a couple of feet away. Too close. I back up, but my back hits the slimy rock wall. “Don’t you see, Sydney?” he says, his eyes wild, his voice raw. “They’re lying to you. They’re lying to all of us. And we all go along with it because we want to be someone so badly. That’s how they get us. Our need. Our want. To be seen and heard. But they don’t care. They don’t see us like that. They see us as something to be used and disregarded until there’s nothing left of us.”
“Okay, you’re freaking me the fuck out now,” I say, putting my hands out. “Please go and leave me alone, or I will scream. I swear it.”
He exhales, visibly trying to control himself, but his face crumples, tears in his eyes. “I went to a fortune teller a month ago. She said I’d never leave this place.”
Okay, that’s it.
I start walking fast, away from Clayton, looking over my shoulder while trying not to bump into the trees. He stands there watching me until he eventually turns around and goes back the way he came.
Meanwhile, I’ve ended up in a little pocket of bushes and rocky outcrops covered in moss and tiny maidenhair ferns, the trees clearing a space. I stop, not wanting to go any further, and let out a long breath. I still feel a little shaky from that interaction, even more so because he wasn’t making much sense. Is he on drugs? He must be on drugs. His eyes were red, and he was acting erratic and twitchy, much different than the insolent douchebag from the first day. Perhaps this place is getting to him. The isolation must be taking its toll.
Kincaid had said one student always goes home. Maybe Amani won’t be the only one this year.
I decide to wait a few moments before I head back, making sure there’s no chance of running into Clayton again.
Until something catches my eye.
Up ahead on the rocky ground is what I first think is a fallen branch, lying across the moss.