Fear Hall: The Beginning Read Online Free Page A

“We … we just wanted you to come take our order,” she told me, blushing. She tugged tensely at her long earring.
    I raised the pad and pulled the pencil from my apron pocket. Mary and Margie ordered plates of French fries and Cokes. Melanie ordered a tossed salad and a Diet Coke. Typical.
    I could see Marty watching me through the open window to the kitchen. I knew if I spent too long chatting with them, he would flash me an angry look.
    I handed their order to Marty and slid the thirty-five cents from Mrs. Jacklin off the countertop and into my apron pocket. Every little bit helped.
    â€œHi!” I called out to Eden and Angel as they slid into the booth across the restaurant from the three M’s.
    I put on a fresh pot of coffee. Then I untied my apron and pulled it off. I hung it on the hook on the kitchen door. “I’m taking a ten-minute break,” I told Marty.
    He looked at his watch. Every day I take a ten-minute break at five-thirty. And every day Marty looks at his watch.
    I made Eden slide against the wall, and I dropped into the booth beside her. “What’s up?” I asked them.
    They both shook their heads glumly.
    I felt a stab of fear in my chest. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s Hope,” Eden murmured.
    â€œHuh?” I gasped. “Has something happened to Hope?”

chapter 8
    â€œN o. Hope is okay,” Angel replied softly. “It’s just … we’re worried about her.”
    â€œAnd Darryl,” Eden added, frowning.
    Angel pulled a piece of lint off her white sweater with her purple fingernails. Her lipstick matched her nails. She had two purple earrings in each ear.
    Angel thinks a
lot
about how she looks.
    â€œHope is just so crazy about Darryl, she won’t listen to reason,” Angel complained.
    Eden nodded. “Darryl is a total creep,” she said. “He’s a psycho. A real nut case. He should be locked up.”
    I pictured Brendan once again, sprawled over the bush beside the dorm.
    â€œYou’re right,” I told Eden. “Darryl
should
be locked up.”
    â€œHe’s dangerous. He should be put away—before he hurts someone else,” Eden replied.
    â€œBefore he
kills
someone else,” Angel said, her eyes wide with fright.
    â€œBut Hope won’t listen to us,” Eden told me. “Hope wouldn’t let us tell the police. She won’t let us turn Darryl in.”
    â€œIt’s because of what happened in high school,” Angel added. “It’s because of how Darryl helped her in high school.”
    â€œNo. It’s because she’s so crazy about him,” Eden argued. “But Hope is making a big mistake by hiding him, by protecting him. A
big
mistake.”
    I nodded in agreement. I didn’t know what else to say. It was three of us against one of Hope.
    â€œMaybe if all three of us talk to her …” I started.
    Angel shook her head. “She won’t listen. I know she won’t. She has her mind made up. She’s going to protect him.”
    â€œBut doesn’t that make us accessories?” I asked.
    They raised their eyes to me. “Accessories?”
    â€œYes,” I said. “Can’t we get in major trouble for helping a murderer? For not telling the police what we know? Isn’t that a serious crime?”
    â€œWe’ve got to talk to Hope,” Eden said firmly. “As soon as we get back to the room.”
    I glanced up. Across the restaurant, the three M’s were all staring hard at us. They had stopped talking. They were staring at us in silence.
    â€œJasmine—?”
    Marty’s voice made me turn to the kitchen. I found him staring at me too. He had the oddest expression on his face.
    â€œJasmine—are you okay?” he asked.
    â€œYeah. Fine,” I called to him.
    I leaned across the table to my two friends. And I whispered, “You guys had better go.