Carry Me Home Read Online Free

was always so cool and smart and in control. She probably thought Amy was an idiot. An idiot who hadn’t even tried. But she had .
    “Remember,” her professor said with a gentleness Amy would never have expected, “you’ll get another chance. On the essay part of the midterms, once we’ve gone over the answers in class, you can redo the ones you missed, turn them in again, and get half credit. This isn’t about flunking you. It’s about teaching you.”
    Amy bobbed her head in a jerky nod. The tears were escaping despite herself, and she just wanted to leave before she lost it entirely. “I know. I will.”
    “You came to the study session last week,” Dr. Santangelo said. “I thought you had a pretty good handle on it. What happened? Did you panic?”
    It sounded so stupid. “Yeah. Because . . .” She ran her knuckles under her eyes, tried to get herself back under control. “I was ready. I just had to do some more studying, you know. Last-minute. Just to make sure. But then . . .” She swallowed. “This guy was following me. Last night, and I . . . I got so scared, I had to sleep at my friend’s, on her floor in her dorm, but I couldn’t sleep, and I didn’t have my notes with me, and I was scared to go home to get them, and . . .” She trailed off, because she was crying again. “I know that sounds like an excuse, but it’s true, I swear. And I studied . I know you won’t believe me, but I did.”
    “Sit down,” Dr. Santangelo said, and she was frowning. But not at Amy, at least Amy didn’t think so. “Tell me what happened.”
    She was frowning some more by the time Amy finished her story. “Did you call the police?”
    “No,” Amy admitted. “I don’t have any proof. I mean, yeah, somebody was definitely following me, but it could have been some kid playing a game. I mean, I realize that. It could even have been just a coincidence. That’s what they’re going to say, I know.”
    “I think you should report it all the same,” Dr. Santangelo said. “Take it seriously. Sometimes our bodies know things that our minds try to reason away. And it could be that other women have been experiencing the same thing. If none of them report it, nobody will even know there’s a problem.”
    “Maybe,” Amy said, unconvinced. “I’d feel stupid. I mean . . .” She laughed a little, although it was pretty watery. “I already feel stupid.”
    Dr. Santangelo stood up. “You aren’t stupid, and I doubt you’re that easily scared. Go home, and don’t worry about this. You may not get an A, or even a B,” she said with a smile, “but if you’re willing to work, you’ll pass the class. Keep trying, keep working. And Amy?”
    “Yeah?”
    “Take care.”

    Later that day Amy was grateful that somebody had believed her. Because when she told Bill over coffee in the student union, he wasn’t as easy to convince.
    “I’m sure you saw something ,” he hastened to say after she’d tried to explain, had seen his skepticism, and had gotten increasingly heated in response. “But don’t you think you’re being a little . . . hysterical? I mean, what happened?”
    “Nothing,” she admitted, her hands twisting in her lap, tugging on her napkin. “That’s because I went back to the Co-op, though, don’t you think? I mean, because I got away, it was all right. But he was behind me. He was .”
    “Did anybody follow you to Monica’s?”
    “I don’t think so. But . . .”
    “Then they weren’t really following you, were they? Not for more than a little while. Maybe the person was just going to the Co-op, too. It could be as simple as that. You were nervous about the test, and your fears got away from you.”
    He stayed with her that night all the same. Which probably wasn’t any big sacrifice, because he took full advantage of the opportunity to hold her, but then, that was fine with her. She wished she could stay with him all week, because she’d have felt safer away from