CHAPTER 27
*** MONDAY MORNING ***
Julia Matthews stroked her hands over the silky cotton of her sundress, her palms moist from nervous perspiration. She took a fortifying breath, taking in her new surroundings with a mix of fear and morbid interest.
Willow Creek High's main door loomed ahead, a faded relic of red brick and institutional dreariness. Students surged through the ancient double doors in chattering gangs, jockeying and roughhousing with the unrestrained energy of wild beasts.
A big difference from Brookfield Academy's polished formality.
Julia gulped hard, fighting the knot of anxiety in her throat. The entire world, with its foreign sights and sounds, felt so...gritty. Unpolished. Dangerous even in its sheer sincerity.
She was startled when a solid hand came to rest on
