Pretty Monster Read online

  Bottom line, she knew Haley was right. Savannah had made it clear that missing class was not an option. Quinn had enough enemies in the real world without forming them here, too. She removed the pillow from her head, groggily stood up, and looked down at herself.

  Same tight, snagged, frayed, all-black clothes as the day before. And probably the day before that. And, quite possibly, the day before that, too. She still had no idea how much time had elapsed while she was under.

  “I guess we should have taken you shopping yesterday, huh?” Haley giggled, eyeing Quinn’s rags. “Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of things you can borrow. Do you want to shower?”

  Quinn had always been a night showerer—with a beer, preferably—but she could make an exception just this once. She knew she smelled even worse than she looked. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Whatever throwaway clothes you hate the most are fine, honestly.”

  Haley chuckled, rifling through her dresser and pulling out a casual, blue-green dress. It was the farthest thing from Quinn’s normal wardrobe. “I know it’s not as fabulous as the things you always wore on TV, but…”

  Quinn, who had been a bit of a master thief in the real world, always preferred to steal from big, designer stores rather than small, family-owned places, but it didn’t have to do with her taste in fashion as much as who she wanted to take from. “This will be just fine,” she assured Haley before stepping into the bathroom.

  For the few months leading up to her capture, Quinn had been sleeping on the couch in Kurt’s trailer in New Jersey. She always had other options—before that, she had stayed at the mansion of a wealthy artist who bragged far too much to his friends about her—but smaller homes were familiar and comfortable to her. She felt too far removed from her own skin in mansions.

  That being said, the bathroom of the dorm was a whole lot nicer than the one in Kurt’s trailer, and the heat and pressure of the water felt incredible as it pounded down on her. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing but the clarity and steam sinking deep into her chest.

  At least, until she saw Kurt’s sweet face in her head. And then she could think of nothing but that.

  She tried to tell herself her tears were just drops from the shower head, but she knew better.

  She shut off the water, dried herself, and pulled on Haley’s dress, staring at her reflection in disbelief. She wasn’t sure she had ever worn something so innocent and conservative. It came almost down to her knees, hanging loosely around her body and masking her normally prevalent curves. It was… simple.

  Quinn had never really done simple. The girl staring back at her looked like a stranger.

  Haley had the same reaction when Quinn stepped out of the bathroom.

  “Wow. You look like a different person.”

  “Yeah,” Quinn managed, pulling at the dress’s fabric awkwardly. “I really need to go shopping.”

  She could tell Haley’s feelings were hurt by the implication that she hated the dress, but Haley didn’t say anything, and neither did Quinn. They weren’t friends. Not yet, at least.

  “So,” Quinn said. “Breakfast?”

  Haley frowned, glancing over at the clock. “You spent longer than I anticipated in the shower,” she admitted carefully. “We could probably swing by the café on our way…”

  Sensing that they were already late and Haley was just trying to be nice, Quinn said, against her better judgment, “No, no. It’s fine.” She could hear her stomach screaming at her, but she ignored it. “Let’s just go.”

  Haley beamed. “Great. Follow me.”

  They headed into the hallway, where they spotted another girl walking in the same direction. She was of Asian descent, petite and athletic with long, silky black hair and a collected countenance similar to Haley’s. She smiled in a friendly way when she saw the girls, not losing her mind as everyone else seemed to when they met Quinn. Quinn appreciated that.

  “Hey, Pence,” Haley said as they made their way to the elevator. “This is Quinn Harper. Our newest recruit.”

  Pence nodded at Quinn, not offering a hand. Quinn didn’t mind; she had had quite enough handshakes for one week, anyway. “Nice to meet you. According to the rumors, you might be one of the last recruits, eh?”

  Quinn shrugged, punching the button for the elevator. “So they say, but I don’t know if I buy it. Maybe all the monsters have made their way here, but makers? In control of their abilities? Not such a hard thing to hide, is it?”

  “You’d be surprised,” Haley said as they filed into the elevator. She glanced at Pence. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but slip-ups are almost guaranteed to happen. For me, they happened just about every time I walked outside.”

  Pence grinned. “Absolutely. Everyone at my school knew about my abilities within a month. My family tried moving, but it didn’t make a difference. Water was, like, drawn to me. Literally. I’d pass a water fountain, a sink… the whole flow of the thing found its way to me.”

  “Exactly,” Haley said. “Leaves, dirt, plants—it all just started uprooting around me. Like it was saying, at your service, Haley.”

  Quinn was impressed; she was heading to class with a manipulator of water and a manipulator of earth. Of course, she could manipulate both, but probably not as well as them. She had never taken the time to focus on either of those attributes. Fire was generally her go-to. Fire and compulsion.

  They exited the elevator, passing the front desk of the dormitory on their way out. Quinn glanced at it, hoping to spot Drax, but realized he was probably on his way to class, too.

  “What class are we going to, anyway?” Quinn asked the girls. “And what classes do we take here?”

  “We’re on our way to math,” Haley explained. Seeing Quinn’s panicked look, she added, “Don’t worry—it’s not crafted the same way as classes you’d be used to. Everyone is split into groups based on how much education they received in the real world. The teacher, Zerrick, is very good. He gives every student the time and focus they need, especially at first.”

  Quinn could feel her heart sinking with dread. She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but not math. She knew next to nothing about math.

  “We take all the general subjects,” Pence told her. “Math, science, social studies, English. None of them are specified further until your teacher learns what you need personally. They’re pretty cool about that. All the teachers are very good. Although…” She glanced at Haley, hesitating.

  Quinn looked from Pence to Haley. “What?”

  “Well,” Haley said carefully, “one of the teachers—you’ll have him later today—well, can be a bit difficult to get along with.” She swallowed. “Maybe particularly for you.”

  Quinn froze. She couldn’t mean him? The man from the dining hall?

  “It’s Dash,” Haley said. “And I know you’re still probably not ready to talk about him. But judging from the look on your face… you didn’t know he was one of the teachers.”

  Quinn had assumed, based on Dash’s appearance, that he was a little old to be a student, but she hadn’t even considered that he might be a teacher. He certainly didn’t look like one.

  “Whatever,” she grumbled. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  They had reached the school. Quinn smiled a forced smile as Pence grabbed the door for them, leading them inside. This building, like the dorm, was cozier than the dining and town halls. There were students scattered about the lobby, which was filled with bookshelves, tables, toys, and a front desk. Past the lobby was a hallway, where there were elevators and several doors to classrooms. Haley and Pence led her to an elevator, which they took to the third floor again. Everyone remained silent in the elevator.

  When the doors opened, they stepped into the classroom across the hall. Quinn was surprised to see that they were the last to enter. In fact, the teacher was already standing at the front of the room, braced to speak.

  “Ah,” he said, glancing pointedly at his watch. “Right in the nick o
f time.”

  “Sorry, Zerrick,” Haley said. “My fault.”

  Quinn appreciated the cover-up, not wanting any more attention drawn to her than there already was. She scanned the room with mild interest, recognizing both Trent and Drax from the day before. The rest of the students staring at her included a pretty, fair-haired girl with giant, white wings like an angel; a thin, dark-skinned, friendly-faced boy with big hair puffing out from under his baseball cap; a dark-haired, pale-skinned, sullen-looking young man in the back; and a few others she didn’t quite get to scan before the teacher, Zerrick, began speaking.

  “No problem, Haley.” He nodded to Quinn. “You must be Quinn.”

  “That’s me.”

  Zerrick waited a second, as if giving her a chance to redeem herself, before continuing. “Why don’t you have a seat next to Angel for now?”

  He gestured to an empty seat next to the white-winged girl.

  “Angel the angel,” Quinn quipped, unable to resist. “That’s even worse than Drax the vampire.”

  Angel didn’t take the joke nearly as well as Drax had. “And you’re even worse than the over-hyped Siren the media forced down our throats,” she fired back, not a lick of humor to her tone. “At least her, I didn’t have to share an island with.”

  “Angel!” Zerrick scolded. “That will be quite enough. What have we said about letting our anger get the better of us?”

  Angel crossed her arms, glare subsiding to a pout. Quinn took her seat, floored by the girl’s hostility.

  “Welcome to today’s math class,” Zerrick said to the room. “Those of you who have been working on calculus, go ahead and group back up and crack open the textbooks. I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

  Quinn glanced around curiously as a handful of students rose from their seats to gather. Of those she had already met, the only one in the calculus group was Haley. Not a huge surprise to Quinn. The other two in the group were the friendly-looking boy with the baseball hat and the pale, sullen boy.

  “Right,” Zerrick said, turning to face the rest of the class. He had an interesting face, Quinn decided. Rich, dark skin; warm eyes; sharp cheekbones. He looked to Quinn like he could have been a movie or music producer in the real world.

  “Trent, Pence,” he said, “I know you two just finished up trig. I think we should try advanced algebra next. Why don’t you go grab two Algebra 3 books from the back and start taking a look? I’ll be with you shortly.”

  Trent and Pence rose and headed for the bookshelves in the back. Quinn had to admit she was a little impressed to see that Mr. Boy Band was one of the better-educated people in the room.

  “The rest of you, pull out yesterday’s homework, and I’ll make the rounds. Quinn, why don’t you come on up to my desk? Bring your chair.”

  Quinn bit her lip, glancing around to see how many eyes were still on her. Most of them had looked away by then, though her biggest fan over in Algebra 3 world was still watching. She grabbed her chair, lifted it like a paperweight, and made her way up to Zerrick’s desk.

  “Have a seat,” he said, taking a seat at his own chair across from her. He smiled encouragingly at her. “Tell me about yourself.”

  She frowned. “What do you want to know?”

  “Well, where are you from?”

  “All over.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t seem to be growing frustrated, though she wasn’t sure how. “Where were you born?”

  “New York.”

  He nodded. This couldn’t be much of a surprise to him. Everyone in that room had spent at least a little time in New York.

  “Did you ever attend school in New York?”

  She shook her head.

  “Okay.” He lowered his voice slightly. He seemed to be choosing his next words carefully. “Did you ever attend school anywhere?”

  She had known this question was coming, but that didn’t make her hate it any less. “Do I have to answer that?”

  “No, but I think it might save us a little bit of time.”

  She sighed, knowing he was right. Might as well get it over with and admit how little education she had now, rather than let them all learn the hard way. “I made it to second grade or so. Then off and on, a little bit, til maybe fifth. And by off and on, I mean… mostly off.”

  He nodded, scribbling something down on the notepad in front of them.

  “Is there any way you can, like… tip this off to my other teachers?” she asked. “The only thing worse than having this conversation would be having this conversation seven times.”

  “I would be happy to,” he told her. “Though I have specific questions regarding my own subject, and I imagine they will, as well.”

  “I’ll tell you right now, I know almost nothing about math. Basic addition and subtraction. I might know how to set up a multiplication problem, if my memory is on my side in the moment.”

  “I understand,” he said gently. “Quinn, I know you might think you’re alone in this, but you’re truly not. When Pence got here a few years ago, she was in a similar situation to you. It wasn’t easy for her, but she’s been doing incredibly well. Drax, Angel… Being visibly affected is always the hardest on education. You can’t attend school when you look the way they do.”

  “Yeah. I learned that the hard way.”

  She had attended school on and off for a few years after the event, but the older she got, the more her enhanced features began to stand out; before long, her teachers were calling the authorities on her. It was always easy for her to escape before things got bad, but the red flags were still raised.

  Still, she couldn’t imagine not even being able to set foot inside a school. With her, it always took people a moment to register that there was something different, and even then, they weren’t sure. But Drax and Angel… They must have had to live in complete hiding.

  “Anyway,” Zerrick said, rifling through a binder, “start with this.” He pulled out a small packet and a mechanical pencil. “It’s technically a test, but don’t think of it that way. It won’t be graded. It’ll just give me a better sense of what I can teach you. It should be about your level.”

  She felt grateful that this was being handled as discretely as it was, and decided that she might just like Zerrick, just as she had started to like so many of the other people on the island. Zerrick, Pence, Haley, Reese, Ridley… She couldn’t remember the last time she had liked this many people in such a short span of time.

  She took the packet back to her desk and began to work on it, but she had an incredibly hard time focusing on it. In fact, she found it hard to focus on anything… hard to even see anything…

  She dropped her pencil, tried to pick it back up, couldn’t. Her stomach began to cramp up in such incredible pain, she was sure she was about to snap in half. The lights in the room began to flicker, which was never a good sign… Everyone began to stare again, which was also never a good sign…

  Luckily, she didn’t have to deal with their stares much longer.

  She fainted.

  4. STABILIZATION

  “It’s dehydration, isn’t it? Sounds like dehydration.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s starvation. Pence told me she could hear her through the wall the night she got here, vomiting for hours. And none of us saw her at dinner that night—or breakfast yesterday.”

  “It’s my fault she didn’t make it to breakfast. I wish she would have told me she threw up all of that food. I would have woken her up earlier, or gotten her to eat some toast, at least.”

  “I just can’t believe how long she’s been out. Do you think it’s something else? Something that has to do with her abilities?”

  “Both of you, stop talking, would you? She’s waking up.”

  Quinn’s eyes fluttered, looking around in confusion. There was a mask over her nose and mouth and a needle in her arm. Hovering over her were Haley and the baseball cap boy from class. A little further back was an older woman wearing scrubs and writing what seemed to
be a small novel on a chart. Quinn realized she was in some sort of hospital room and that the woman was probably her doctor.

  “Quinn!” Haley exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m such a bad roommate for not noticing you were sick that night. Dr. Donovan’s been shooting you up with some good nutrients, and Reese is going to go get some nice, tame food in you after this.”

  Quinn glanced over toward the doorway and saw that there was a fifth person in the room: Reese. He smiled at her when they made eye contact, and she lingered a beat too long on it before turning her attention back to the boy in the baseball cap.

  “Who are you?” she asked him bluntly.

  He laughed. “My name’s Charlie. I’m in your class. This is Dr. Donovan, my mom. I helped Haley get you here yesterday, and I’ve tried to come help my mom between shifts. We don’t get a lot of emergencies around here, so she tends to be short-staffed when we do.”

  Quinn wondered whether he and his mother were both deviants, or whether she had come to the island just for him, as Savannah had for her sons.

  “Charlie is Pence’s boyfriend,” Haley told Quinn. “She came and checked on you a few times, but she had to go to class and get our assignments for us since we’ve been mostly here.”

  “So, it’s been, what, a full day since I passed out?” Quinn asked, trying to catch up. “Is that normal?”

  She tried not to notice Reese’s concerned expression; he seemed to have the same question.

  “It’s been just under 24 hours,” Dr. Donovan said, coming over to Quinn. “Miss Harper, this isn’t just a matter of you not eating enough food—though it certainly didn’t help. I’m told that in the past few days alone, you’ve been shot multiple times, caused—and survived—a helicopter crash, and flew yourself and three others nearly a mile to the shore.”

  Quinn crossed her arms, irritated. Obviously, Ridley had recounted his experiences with her to at least this person, if not more. It was just another example of everyone on the island knowing everything about her.