On the Fringe Read Online Free Page A

just as Mom’s blue Audi pulled up.
    I started to move until I saw my mom’s red, hollow eyes staring out at me, even through the dark passenger-side window veined with rivers of rain. I was hesitant to get in the car. I didn’t want this, whatever this was.
    A car honked behind her, and an irritated Addie quickly slid into the backseat. “Get in, Claire,” she said, already getting comfortable.
    The car honked again. Finally I moved, sliding in next to Addie. Instead of driving off, Mom pulled into the closest parking spot, prompting Addie to ask what was going on. Turning around in her seat, Mom took one look at Addie and started to cry.

Daniel
    The night had gone from boring to deadly in about two minutes.
    Before I knew what had happened, there was shouting and breaking glass as a rush of bodies flew around me, everyone climbing on top and over each other, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible.
    Then I saw the gun, and froze.
    Everyone froze. As if that would keep a killer from pulling the trigger. I even thought about ducking. But it was too late by the time the thought reached my brain.
    The bullet reached it first.
    Surprisingly, it was nothing like the movies where everything happens in slow motion as the victim helplessly watches fate mow him down. No, Matthew just stared at me blankly as the crack of a surreal blast tore through the air, and then I felt myself jerking hard to the left before falling against the bookcase, my head oozing warm juice.

Claire
    “What’s wrong, Mom?” I was terrified of the answer. “What happened? ”
    Mom sniffed loudly. “It’s Daniel.”
    “ What? Is he okay?” Addie asked. But the interior of the car was already beginning to spin, and I felt my own head falling into my shaking hands. I closed my eyes, afraid to look up, because Mom couldn’t seem to answer Addie’s question.
    It was a simple question.
    Addie gripped my knee. “Where is Daniel, Mrs. James?”
    “There was an accident… But I need to get you home now, honey. Your grandparents are waiting for you.”
    “Grandparents? What about my parents? Where are they ?”
    “They’re taking care of everything.”
    I still couldn’t lift my head, even as I heard Addie’s voice tipping into delirium. “Taking care? Everything? I don’t understand. Where’s Daniel ? Where is he, Mrs. James? What happened to Daniel?”
    “Addie… Daniel’s…” Mom choked. “Daniel’s been shot–”
    “SHOT?” she gasped. “ How? Wait. Where is he?”
    “He…Daniel didn’t make it, Addie. He’s…”
    What?
    “What?” Addie wailed. “No!” she pleaded, pounding her fists into her lap. “No, NO!” she screamed, hurling with precision the same words I was thinking, but couldn’t find a way to release them.
    Daniel.
    How could he be gone?
    A numbing blackness invaded my vision. Even with my eyes squeezed shut, everything inside me felt broken into pieces. I tried holding my breath to stop myself from crying, but it didn’t work.Nothing worked. Never again would I see or hear or touch Daniel. Ever. It hurt like a knife carving into me, ripping out my insides, twisting and cutting. I wanted to scream out loud but could only seem to scream in my head.
    Not knowing what else to do, I reached for Addie and squeezed her hand as she lay in my lap, sobbing all the way to her house. I could barely watch as Addie’s grandfather gathered her into his arms and closed the door behind them.
    If only they had come with us to the movie, I kept repeating in my mind. But no, Matthew and Daniel had gone to the party instead. Everyone was going to be there, I had whined. Now all the what-ifs were starting to eat at me, and the more I thought about it, the faster I seemed to fall.
    Mom was still talking and driving, but I didn’t hear most of what she was saying… something about the party and a fight…and a gun. Why was there a gun? We lived in Hidden Lake. It was a safe place. Now all I knew was that Matthew