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of large puddles along the way. By the time she reached the other side, even her knees were drenched. Her feet felt damp and wrinkled, her trainers doing a poor job of keeping water out. Her socks were soggy and di

in different directions. The chill was bad today. This time of year in Milwaukee usually spelled the end of the cold season, but despite it being the last week of March, winter stil

a caterer's daughter all the same. How could she not? Especially when popular students like Susan Green had parents with cool jobs. Her dad was an architec

goodne

two, all one hundred and thirty-eight pounds of her was miniscule in comparison to most of her classmates. Right now, that meant even the wind got to bully her. She kept her he

s like to take a sobriety

n the street like a baby antelope learning to walk for the first time. The stores at this end of town were all closed and starting to mist up. The sky overhead was a dreary gray and looked even darker on the horizon. Tha

the torrid weather to notice the mousy little girl they passed. Gaining some comfort from these facts, Georgia quickened her pace. She could still make it to school on time. The walk wasn't that far. Her mom had left early again,

him. The circumstances were familiar; the end result always the same-missing the school bus again. Georgia's teenage angst annoyed her, or at least it did when she was aware of it. She was now. She reminded herself that she was midway through and in a year's time

lo

d the weather report that morning. As pink bubble tea stained the white fabric and dripped all the way down her shoulders and arms, she regretted wearing white now. Some of the bl

passed and splashed her with more icy water. Her legs and thighs winced as the water got through her dou

t, Dot face," Joey Swinton's obnoxious

ore with tinted windows, she caught a brief sight of her reflection. Her eyes had their usual dark circles. Her small cheeks and pouty lips did nothing to brighten up an otherwise ordinary f

Just eight more months

t wait to leave her nightmare of a school behind; her tea

Just eight more months

ost of the pink goop was being washed away with it. Georgia knew she probably still looked like

ght mor

in this direction, the tenement buildings on Warbler were higher than the little shops on Morris Street and kept her insulated from the worst of it. She walked faster, still a little

d, wh

was. Ahead, she saw a smartly dressed man on the floor and a yo

s he got to his feet and brushed off his ex

re going idiot,"

ion. As he turned to walk away, Georgia was almost alongside the pair now. The older guy grabbed his shoulder and spun him around angrily. Georgia tried to see the kid's face bu

t was out of the pants, top buttons missing, and it had tears all over the chest and arms. The pants were dirty and looked like he'd been running through a bush; clumps of dirt and remnants of wet foliage still clinging to the bottoms. The shoes were

heavy and held a feral quality-sounding like deep, hulking grunts instead. As he spun around to face the man, they both finally got a better look at his face. Georgia was right next to them now, panic rising within her. T

s that shut the man up. Seemingly losing his voice with fear, he involuntarily took two steps back. The wind and rain howled around them, the kid's hair blowing about wildly with it as he snarled at the man. Seeming

s not

n. He shook his head like a dog, some normalcy returning to his eyes as he seemed to notice Georgia for the first time.

ce deep and throaty as he sa

ed for a moment. Where did he come from? What happened to him? Where was he going? The questions peppered her mind. At first she thought he must clearly be on something; no one could be that trashed and still be sober. She turned and carried on her way to school, trying to get him out of her head. Somehow s