had begun.

Being a new student was bad enough, and Luce had been really nervous
about having to jump into
classes where everyone else was already settled. But from the looks of this tour,
she wasnit the only new kid
arriving today. She sneaked a peek at the three other students standing in a half
circle around her. At her
last school, Dover Prep, the campus tour on the first day was where sheid met her
best friend, Callie. On a
campus where all the other students had practically been weaned together, it would
have been enough that
Luce and Callie were the only non-legacy kids. But it didnit take long for the two
girls to realize they also had
the exact same obsession with the exact same old moviesoespecially where Albert
Finney was concerned. After
their discovery freshman year while watching Two for the Road that neither one of
them could make a bag of
popcorn without setting off the fire alarm, Callie and Luce hadnit left each
otheris sides. Until ...until theyid
had to. At Luceis sides today were two boys and a girl. The girl seemed easy enough
to figure out, blond and
neutrogena-commercial pretty, with pastel pink manicured nails that matched her
plastic binder. iIim
Gabbe,i she drawled, flashing Luce a big smile that disappeared as quickly as it
had surfaced, before Luce
could even offer her own name. The girlis waning interest reminded her more of a
southern version of the
girls at Dover than someone sheid expect at Sword & Cross. Luce couldnit decide
whether this was comforting
or not, any more than she could imagine what a girl who looked like this would be
doing at reform school. To
Luceis right was a guy with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a smattering of
freckles across his nose. But the
way he wouldnit even meet her eyes, just kept picking at a hangnail on his thumb,
gave Luce the impression
that, like her, he was probably still stunned and embarrassed to find himself here.
The guy to her left, on the
other hand, fit Luceis image of this place a little bit too perfectly. He was tall
and thin, with a Di bag slung
over his shoulder, shaggy black hair, and large, deep-set green eyes. His lips were
full and a natural rose color
most girls would kill for. At the back of his neck, a black tattoo in the shape of
a sunburst seemed almost to
glow on his light skin, rising up from the edge of his black T-shirt. Unlike the
other two, when this guy turned
to meet her gaze, he held it and didnit let go. His mouth was set in a straight
line, but his eyes were warm and
alive. He gazed at her, standing as still as a sculpture, which made Luce feel
rooted to her spot, too. She sucked
in her breath. Those eyes were intense, and alluring, and, well, a little bit
disarming. With some loud throat-
clearing noises, the attendant interrupted the boyis trancelike stare. Luce blushed
and pretended to be very
busy scratching her head. iThose of you whoive learned the ropes are free to go
after you dump your hazards.i
The attendant gestured at a large cardboard box under a sign that said in big black
letters PROHIBITED
MATERIALS, iAnd when I say free, Toddioshe clamped a hand down on the freckled
kidis shoulder, making
him jampoiI mean gymnasium-bound to meet your preassigned student guider. Youioshe
pointed at
Luceoidump your hazards and stay with me.i The four of them shuffled toward the box
and Luce watched,
baffled, as the other students began to empty their pockets. The girl pulled out a
three-inch pink Swiss Army
knife. The green-eyed guy reluctantly dumped a can of spray paint and a box cutter.
Even the hapless Todd let
loose several books of matches and a small container of lighter fluid. Luce felt
almost stupid that she wasnit
concealing a hazard of her ownobut when she saw the other kids reach into their
pockets and chuck their cell
phones into the box, she gulped. Leaning forward to read the PROHIBITED MATERIALS
sign a little more
closely, she saw that cell phones, pagers, and all two-way radio devices were
strictly forbidden. It was bad
enough that she couldnit have her car! Luce clamped a sweaty hand around the cell
phone in her pocket, her
only connection to the outside world. When the attendant saw the look on her face,
Luce received a few quick
slaps on the cheek. iDonit swoon on me, kid, they donit pay me enough to
resuscitate. Besides, you get one
phone call once a week in the main lobby.i One phone call ... once a week? Buto She
looked down at her phone
one last time and saw that sheid received two new text messages. It didnit seem
possible that these would be
her two last text messages. The first one was from Callie. Call immediately! Will
be waiting by the phone all
nite so be ready to dish. And remember the mantra I assigned you. Youill survive!
BYW, for what itis worth, I
think everyoneis totally forgotten about ... In typical Callie fashion, sheid gone
on so long that Luceis crap cell
phone cut the message off four lines in. In a way, Luce was almost relieved. She
didnit want to read about how
everyone from her old school had already forgotten what had happened to her, what
sheid done to land