The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky (ebook reader for manga TXT) 📕

“I’m listening,” Saundra said.

“I’m just going through some weird stuff. Everyone at school thinks I’m a lunatic and Lux McCray wants me dead and I’m pretty sure I flunked my bio quiz.”

“Go on…”

“I’m sorry I freaked. I can’t believe you still want to sit next to me after the way I acted. I’m lucky to have you as a friend.”

I could tell Saundra was softening because when she sipped her kombucha through her stainless-steel straw, it was decidedly unpointedly. But to make sure I was fully back on her good side, I cleared my throat and nodded at the popular lunch table.

“Bram looks … nice today.” The truth was, Bram didn’t look any different than he normally did, but this was my olive branch.

Just like that, Saundra’s face lit up and any awkwardness was swept away. It was the regularly scheduled Bram News Network, where Saundra was both the anchor and the pundit, delivering the latest breaking news. Right now she was reflecting on what his best feature was, but as I glanced over, all I could focus on was Bram’s imperfections. A slight gap between his front teeth. Eyes darker than an abyss. The kind of shiny chestnut hair that belonged in a barbershop window display. Okay, I guess some people might find those faults charming. He looked up, sensing my gaze, and I quickly dropped my eyes to my sandwich.

Saundra droned on, and much like with cable news, I sat and absorbed all of it without really knowing why. As my brain turned numb, I knew I had to do something before I face-planted into my grilled cheese.

“We’re kind of partners on a school project,” I blurted.

Saundra’s eyes bugged out of her head. “You’re what?”

“Yeah. So that’s gonna be fun.”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like it’s not going to be fun?”

“Because Bram is…” I glanced at his table. “He’s, like, impenetrable. He doesn’t say much and he sort of looks angry all the time.”

“Bram’s a sweetheart.”

“Okay, there’s gotta be a reason you keep saying that about him.”

“There is.” Saundra leaned back in her seat and lifted her eyes dreamily toward the fluorescent lights above us, already lost in a memory. “It happened on an Upper Lower School class trip to the Empire State Building.”

“Upper Lower?”

“The two highest grades in the Lower School got to go. We were in fifth grade. Anyway, we got up to the Observation Deck and I got really dizzy. Right when I thought I was going to throw up or pass out or pee myself, Bram appeared next to me. I was so embarrassed that he was seeing me at my worst.”

“Sounds awful.”

“It was amazing,” Saundra continued. “Bram took me to a quiet corner and held my gross, sweaty hand, and told me to look at him and keep breathing. Fifth-grade Bram did that. He was so composed and mature, even back then. He didn’t let go of my hand the entire time, not until Mr. Porsif told us it was time to go. I still hate heights, but I’d go back to the top floor of the Empire State Building if Bram asked me to.”

I tried to reconcile fifth-grade Bram with the Bram I knew. But the truth was, I really didn’t know too much about him. Just one of his secrets. But we all had secrets.

“What do you know about Felicity Chu?” I asked. While I had Saundra’s encyclopedic knowledge at my disposal, I might as well use it. Anything to keep her from going on about Bram.

“Felicity Chu?” Saundra looked behind her, as though Felicity was lurking somewhere close by, a vampire ready to strike. But as far as I could tell, Felicity wasn’t in the cafeteria.

“She’s freaky,” Saundra said. “Why do you want to know about her?”

“Just curious. Her locker’s close to mine. What’s so freaky about her?”

Saundra fixed me with a wide-eyed look, like the answer was obvious. “Black lipstick.”

I rolled my eyes, but Saundra didn’t let up. “I’m serious. That is a choice when her mom is the CFO of Isee Cosmetics—she can have all the lipstick shades she wants. It’s a real shame we’re not friends.”

“Anything else?”

“Okay, how about the fact that she hates everybody? And she’s got a weird crush on Stephen King. Who has crushes on authors? Old authors.”

“She reads a lot. Doesn’t mean she has a crush on the author.”

“She has a black-and-white picture of him hanging in her locker.”

“Oh.”

“Plus, I think all those horror novels are going to her head. Giving her ideas.”

I kept my voice casual. “What do you mean?”

“She got suspended last year for kicking Alexandra Turbinado in the crotch during Pottery elective. And then again for doing the same thing to Reggie Held. Which is extra weird because everyone takes Pottery to, like, relax, or fall in love, or whatever, but it just made Felicity super aggressive.”

Definitely not something I would’ve found on Felicity’s Instagram. Being friends with Saundra was proving beneficial. “Thayer Turner?”

Saundra looked at me funny and I realized that to her, it just seemed like I was rattling off a random list of Manhattan Prep weirdos. “Um, just curious because he seems nice. He let me borrow his notes.”

“I wouldn’t use those. All he does is goof off in class. Just another boy who thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. He’s only still here because of his parents.”

“Really? He seems like a normal kid to me.”

“That’s all part of the media-ready package,” Saundra said, taking a sip of her kombucha. “Thayer’s dad made him get a normal job at a movie theater so he can tell everyone his son is just like any other teenager. I assume Thayer goes along with it for the free popcorn. Who keeps texting you?”

I hadn’t even realized that my phone had been buzzing in my backpack. Nothing got past Saundra. I fished it out.

Meeting at this address tonight. 9pm. Freddie.

“Who’s it from?” Saundra prodded. “Some sort of emergency?”

I didn’t want to lie to her, but I