Dread

I pressed my back tight against the wall. “What are you going to do?” I repeated.“I’m going to walk home if you’ll ever let me!” she said. She spinned away,her hands squeezed into big fists.“I said I was sorry!” I called after her.She vanished up the stairs without turning back.Those weird gray eyes stayed in my mind.I gave her time to leave the building. Then I started up the stairs.It was a long climb to the top floor. My legs still felt a little shaky from running into that strange girl. And it was kind of strange and frightening, being the only person up here.My shoes thudded on the hard steps, and the sound thundered in the empty

stairwell. The halls stretched out like long, dark tunnels.I was out of breath when I finally reached the landing on the third floor. I started down the hall, murmuring to myself. My voice sounded hollow in the empty hall. It echoed off the long row of blue lockers.I stopped Murmuring as I made my first right turn. I passed an empty teachers’ lounge. A computer lab. Then some rooms that looked empty. Another right turn took me into a narrow hall with wooden floors that creaked

and groaned under my shoes.I stopped outside the room at the end of the hall. A small hand-lettered sign beside the door read ART CLASS.I grabbed the doorknob and started to pull open the door.But I stopped when I heard voices inside the room. Started, I gripped the doorknob and listened. I heard a boy and a girl. They were

talking softly. I couldn’t make out their words. But the kids sounded like Aaliyah and Benjamin.

What are they doing up here? I wondered. Why did they follow me? How did they get up here before I did? I pushed open the door and stepped inside. “Hey, guys” I called. “What’s going on?” My mouth dropped open. The room was empty. “Hey” I called. “Are you guys in here?” No reply. My eyes darted around the big room. Golden afternoon sunlight poured in through the windows.The long art tables stood clean and empty. Some clay pots were drying on the window ledge. A mobile made of wire hangers and soup cans hung from the ceiling light.Weird, I thought, shaking my head. I heard voices in here. I know I did. Are Aaliyah and Benjamin playing a little joke on me? I wondered. Are they hiding up here? I made my way quickly to the big supply closet and pulled open the door.

“Caught you!” I cried.No. No one in there. I stared into the dark closet. Am I starting to hear voices? I wondered. Maybe my fall off the ladder was worse than I’d thought!I reached up and pulled the chain to turn on the closet light. On both sides of me, shelves of art supplies reached to the ceiling. I spotted the red paint we needed and started to slide a few cans off the shelf. But I stopped when I heard a girl laugh.

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