Rosethorn Read Online Free Page A

his skin as he stood close to her.
    She turned a little and still looking at the bullet in her hand, she whispered, although they were both alone, “Is this for me?"
    “Yes."
    She couldn’t raise her eyes to him, so just murmured grudgingly, “Thank you” to his shirt. He paused for a moment, still looking down at her then walked away. She stood by the open shed door long after he had left, the bullet in her hand, bewildered.
    She put the bullet in her pocket, where it burned the whole day, and didn’t take it out again until she came home. A part of her thought without a doubt that it was a prelude to some elaborate trick, but she had not detected any guile or mockery in his manner nor in his voice. She kept turning around and around in her mind what he had said about vampires. Clearly, he meant her story. But why?  She could not find an answer.
    When she did not see him again for the rest of day, Sera felt somewhat disappointed, but relieved that she didn’t have a chance to confront him. She took the bullet out of her pocket and set it on top of her drawer, lay in her bed and looked at it as it shone in her room.
    She wanted to call Allison and have one of their all-night gabfests, the kind they used to have before she and Paul started going out, but it was Prom Night, and Paul, as a senior, was taking Alli. She was alone, again, her best friend in a fairy tale of which she was no part, Cinderella at the ball in her dazzling white gown and gloves, on the arm of the coolest boy in school.
    Restless, she decided to go to the movies that night. She would have to learn to be by herself. She lied to her grandmother and pretended that she was going to meet Allison at the corner of the Boulevard like they usually did, knowing that she would not be allowed to stay out late by herself.
    It took her 15 minutes of brisk striding, blasting “Stand Back” on her disc player over and over again, before she reached the old Venetia Theater. Tonight they were playing a mismatched double feature of a romantic comedy and a horror movie. Both had premiered earlier in the year and were no longer playing elsewhere. The theater was in near-decrepitude, having seen better days many years ago. The seats were musty and upholstered with stained red velvet faded into a dusky pink. Well-worn velvet curtains hung in near tatters on either side of the big screen.
    Troy, Harry, and Glenn were anemic-looking college kids who had been running the popcorn and candy stand, selling tickets and manning the projector for several years now. They all wore Jamaican knit caps of yellow and green and Che Guevara or Bob Marley T-shirts. Whenever one of them opened the door leading up to the projection room, the smell of pot would waft out.
    They continually complained of working for minimum wage and that the theater would be closing any day now. Sera could never figure out how the theater made any money when it showed third-run double features for $5.00. She took her ticket from Troy and pretended not to hear him when he asked where Allison was. She supposed that she could break it to him that Allison now had a boyfriend, but she just didn’t feel like seeing that stricken look on his face. He would probably start blubbering and freak her out. He was at least 20 and had been making eyes at Allison and giving her free Twix candy bars for years now. If he wasn’t so stoned most of the time, he’d probably be a lot creepier.
    Sera chose the middle of the seventh row, her and Allison’s usual spot, and scrunched all the way down as she put her feet over the back of the chair in front of her. She couldn’t wait for the movie to start so that she could lose herself in something other than her aloneness. It had been easier being a loner when Allison was a loner too.
    There were only three other people in the theater when the first movie began. Sera liked this quirky love story about misfits and her feet danced to the catchy soundtrack.
    She munched on her