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As Maggie had expected, the stoner college boy was easily distracted When she handed over the money he just asked her if she didn&039;t want to test drive the car first, but he didn&039;t press the issue - he was too busy counting the twenties to pay her any real attention He e the car&039;s registration, but when she said she was in a hurry and they could take care of all that later, he just handed over the keys She told hi He wanted a phone number for her but it was easy to make one up

Five minutes later she was on the road in her brand new broken down ray, sort of, where it wasn&039;t rust colored The interior stank of pot smoke but if she rolled down all the s she could breathe enough to drive She got on the road and headed toward the highway There was nothing to hold her anyetaway

Except

Except there was one thing she wanted to get first She would leave all her clothes, leave all her things at the house rather than face Grand she couldn&039;t just leave behind

Taped on the inside of her locker door was a picture of her mom

If she could just see it, one more time If she could take it with her, and look at it every ti what Mom looked like - it would help a lot It would uilt she felt for the things she&039;d one wasn&039;t going to take her whole life away, just like she&039;d taken the drunk&039;s TV set

It was ato the school would put her at risk Her disguise probably wouldn&039;t fool any of the kids there who knew her And most likely Brent would be there But if she was quick, if she didn&039;t take any unnecessary chances, then ht

The school was barely two miles away It was an easy drive, and when she was done she could get right back on the highway from the school&039;s feeder road She could be halfway across the state by lunch time

"Let&039;s do it," she told herself, and threw the car in gear

There were plenty of available spaces in the school&039;s parking lot Theoretically if you didn&039;t have the correct per there, but she didn&039;t plan on sticking around long enough for that to happen She got out of the car and headed for the h every weekday for the last three school years There was no one around - classes were in session and the hallould be eht underneath a security ca it off the wall, but the da into the school Whatever By the tione

She didn&039;t see anyone until she was passing the Hoie didn&039;t know, using the drinking fountain to wash off her retainer When she saw Maggie the girl pressed herself up against the wall and stared in terror

"Grr," Maggie said, and scratched at the air like a cat