The Changeling Read Online Free Page A

She’d quit the cheerleading squad, dropped out of every club and departed from every committee, save one. Irritatingly, she was still chair of the prom committee. It was irritating because it meant that I had to be on the committee myself, and that would require me to attend meetings with the rest of the committee—meetings ad nauseam I was sure.
    Casting it in a positive light, I told myself all day the prom committee would be a needed and healthy diversion. I repeated that to myself until school was over and we met for the first time in the semester. Candace, Rachel, Becky, Rhonda, and Ronnie, the only guy on the committee, debated themes, colors, and every other speck of minutiae associated with the event. They managed only to agree on where to have the next meeting: the Crescent Hotel, the proposed location of this year’s prom. I still hadn’t been to the Crescent, but I did remember all Aunt May’s ghost stories and other tidbits of its checkered past she had told me from time to time.
    The impending prom created another issue I didn’t want to deal with: the dilemma of who I would go with. Using the techniques Gavin had unintentionally taught me, I’d already sidestepped two invitations from seniors, but I knew it was only a matter of time before Doug asked.
    His advances were becoming bolder and more aggressive. Clearly, the situation was building to a head and I didn’t know how to handle it. Not only was I completely obsessed with finding my brother—a personal quest no one else could know about—but I was still inexorably committed to Gavin, wherever he was. Each time I closed my eyes, I saw his face. I spent hours in my bedroom clutching the gold necklace he’d given me last Christmas.
    Between Mitch and Gavin, I was a complete mess. At the first practice of the year, I found myself unable to concentrate on swimming. Coach Rawlins gave me a little space, but I knew that wasn’t going to last long. State championships were just a few weeks away and he also mentioned that, provided my times were good enough, he wanted me to compete in a national event this year.
    After practice was over, I met Doug at the car. My parents hadn’t come today. They were home with the imitation Mitch, who was getting worse by the day.
    The fluorescent streetlights hummed in the frigid night air, illuminating the darkness and masking the majority of the stars in the cloudless night sky. Doug crossed his legs and leaned back against his black Jeep as I walked past several of my teammates. He had a devious look on his face and never took his eyes off me.
    “Havana, I’ve been thinking,” he began.
    “Oh lord, am I in trouble?”
    “Well, I hope you don’t see it as trouble. I’m thinking that I’d take you to prom…well…two proms actually. Eureka and Fayetteville.” His eyes were more intense than ever, and he smiled—a smile I’m sure he practiced in the mirror a thousand times. It was freezing and the lighting was terrible, but he was excruciatingly adorable at the moment. Under the damp blond hair, his warm blue eyes looked twice as large as normal, his smile, twice as big.
    I considered saying no for a moment, just to play with him, but I couldn’t bring myself to do anything that might change his captivating expression. Besides, I wasn’t about to go to Eureka’s prom by myself, and I knew Candace expected me to be there.
    Urged on by my silence, he amped his begging up a notch. “You know you have to go—you’re a junior. I’m pretty sure, deep down, you really want to go with me. Besides, it’d be totally lame to show up by yourself.”
    “That would be lame. But two proms? Really?”
    “Yes, really. Come on, Havana, don’t make me get down on a knee.” He pulled a semi-pouty look from his arsenal of rehearsed, adorable expressions.
    I laughed at the thought, and that spurred him on. He took a knee and grabbed my hand, pulling it gently toward his pleading face.
    “Okay, I’m begging you.