Series: The Un Series by Izzy Sweet
Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 109192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
The first girl in line, Sara, doesn’t move. Remaining in place, she trembles, her entire body shaking.
Until Sister Agatha barks, “Now!”
Rushing forward, Sara almost collides with Sister Agatha before she stumbles through the curtain.
Rolling her eyes, Sister Agatha shakes her head and mutters something under her breath before disappearing after her.
The red curtain swings back into place and silence falls upon the rest of us. It’s so quiet now in this little curtained-off corner, it’s as if we’re all holding our breath.
There are no more whimpers. No more sniffles.
No uncomfortable shifting or rustling of gauzy dresses.
Only silence.
Ears straining, I try to listen to everything happening outside the curtain.
I hear Sister Agatha call out, but her words are in Latin, and I don’t understand them.
A deeper voice calls back in Latin.
Then there’s quiet again.
A minute or two later, I feel all the little hairs on my body stand on end. But it’s not like what I felt when my father turned to look at me before blessing me.
No, this feels like I rubbed my entire body against a rubber balloon.
A couple of girls in line ahead of me squirm and turn to look around, and I know they felt it, too.
Then my stomach squeezes so tight I want to puke.
“What?” the second girl in line gags.
Clutching her own stomach, she bends over, her red ponytail sliding over her right shoulder.
The two girls around her quickly move away with looks of worry on their faces.
“Don’t you dare puke on me!” the girl with blonde curls says.
“I won’t!” the girl clutching her stomach says irritably, but her face is an ugly shade of green.
I fight hard not to grab at my own belly. Not wanting to draw the unwanted attention of the other girls.
It seems only the red-haired girl and I are sick. The others look a little worried but fine.
“Good,” the blonde girl says and smooths her hands down her white dress. “My daddy spent a lot of money on this dress. I bet your daddy couldn’t afford to pay my daddy back.”
The sickness churning like acid behind my bellybutton disappears.
Straightening, the red-haired girl sniffs at the blonde girl. “I bet my daddy could buy—”
Loud applause suddenly erupts inside the cathedral, drowning the rest of her words out.
Glancing at the curtain nervously, the blonde girl with curls hurries to move back into line.
The other girl with pigtails isn’t as fast.
Head tipped to the side, still listening to the applause, she’s standing out of place when Sister Agatha comes sweeping back in.
“Vanessa,” Sister Agatha says in surprise, before her eyes become murderous slits. “I told you to stay in line and repent for your sins!”
Marching up to the girl with pigtails, Sister Agatha’s arm lashes out lightning fast and she slaps the girl hard across the back of the head.
Vanessa cries out in pain and begins to sob loudly as Sister Agatha grabs her by the arm and yanks her toward the curtain.
“Stay in line or you’ll regret it!” Sister Agatha orders us over her shoulder before she drags the girl out into the cathedral.
I hear Sister Agatha say, “I hope you’re happy, Vanessa. Your appearance and behavior is going to bring shame to your parents!”
Then the world falls into silence again.
Staring hard at the curtain, I try to steel myself for the stomach cramps as everything that happened with the first girl, Sara, is repeated again.
I bite my cheek, filling my mouth with blood.
But the acidic pain hits so hard and fast, I can barely breathe through it.
Groaning in her own misery, the red-haired girl bends forward and throws up all over her shoes.
“Ew!” the blonde girl with curls yells and jumps back.
Sending the entire line stumbling into each other.
When the girl in front of me, Trinity, steps on my toes, I’m grateful for the distraction. My throat burning with bile, the smell of the red-haired girl’s puke is making me even more sick.
But just like the first time, the pain gripping my belly suddenly disappears as if it never existed.
“Oh no…” the red-haired girl moans and tries to move back, away from the puddle she left on the floor.
But the girl with blonde curls shoves her forward.
The red-haired girl slips through the puddle. She flails and flaps her arms, desperately trying to stay upright, but ultimately falls, her butt landing in the middle of it.
Many of the other girls in line giggle as if the entire thing is hilarious.
Pulling the curtain back, Sister Agatha peers down at the girl on the floor. All the color drains from her face as she says with a touch of horror, “What on earth, Renee…”
Her face flushed with embarrassment, the red-haired girl looks up at Sister Agatha and sobs. “I got sick.”
Sister Agatha sniffs the air then makes a disgusted face. “I can see that.”
A part of me is afraid she is going to punish poor Renee for what happened. But when Renee begins to cry harder, Sister Agatha sighs loudly and motions for her to stand. “Come. I’ll take you to your parents so they can see to you.”