Missing Pieces by Marilyn Kaye

Author:Marilyn Kaye [Kaye, Marilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-8041-4996-9
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2013-09-25T00:00:00+00:00

“But why didn’t you just follow him into the cemetery?” Tasha asked as they returned to their seats in the gym after the intermission.

Amy shrugged. “I just didn’t feel right doing that,” she said casually.

“Why not?” Tasha pressed.

Jerry offered an answer. “Because she was scared! I wouldn’t follow a demon into a cemetery either.”

Tasha turned slightly so Jerry wouldn’t see the eye roll she gave Amy. But this time Amy didn’t return the look.

Tasha’s eyes widened. “Amy … are you starting to think that he really is a demon?”

“Nooo … not exactly.”

Tasha frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Shhh,” Amy said. “The chorus is coming back.”

Tasha settled into her chair, but she knew she wouldn’t be listening to the rest of the concert. She kept glancing at her friend, wondering what was going on in her head. Neither she nor Amy had ever been into supernatural stuff. Sure, they watched TV shows like The X-Files and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dark Angel, and they loved movies like The Blair Witch Project. But that was just entertainment. They didn’t really believe in that stuff … did they?

“Yikes!” Tasha jumped as a tickling sensation crawled up the back of her neck. People turned to stare at her, frowning and putting index fingers to their lips. But next to her, Jerry was giggling, and she realized he was the one who had tickled her neck.

He leaned over. “I’m a demon! I’m a demon!” he said in a high, squeaky whisper.

“Stop it!” she hissed. “Don’t be an idiot!”

That pitiful hangdog expression came over his face, and immediately waves of guilt washed over her.

“Just kidding,” she whispered quickly.

He beamed. She really knew how to pick them, she thought regretfully. At least Amy’s chosen “outsider” had turned out to be interesting and exciting, even a little scary. Tasha’s outsider was just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, garden-variety nerd.

Thank goodness she’d had the presence of mind to say no when he asked her to the dance. A concert was one thing, but a school dance was something else altogether. All Tasha had to do was walk in the door with Jerry Newman by her side and she’d be labeled forever.

But then she started the usual mental debate. Wasn’t that exactly what she was fighting against—the way people stuck labels on each other? On the other hand, she was feeling increasingly sure that Jerry’s label of nerd and reject was pretty accurate. He was severely lacking in intelligence, charm, personality, and just about every other appealing quality. Even so, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

The next day, as she was leaving school with Amy, she talked about her problem. “I know he has a crush on me,” she said. “Probably because I’m the only person at school who’s ever been nice to him. But I have to make him understand that I’m not interested in him that way. I don’t mind being friends—well, as long as we don’t have to be really good friends. So how can I

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