The Struggle by Smith L. J

Author:Smith, L. J. [Smith, L. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Paranormal, Horror
ISBN: 9780062064745
Amazon: 0062064746
Goodreads: 9555768
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: 1991-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

That day at lunchtime there was another piece of violet paper on the office bulletin board. This one, though, read simply: LOOK IN PERSONALS.

“What personals?” said Bonnie.

Meredith, walking up at that moment with a copy of the Wildcat Weekly, the school newspaper, provided the answer. “Have you seen this?” she said.

It was in the personals section, completely anonymous, with neither salutation nor signature. I can’t bear the thought of losing him. But he’s so very unhappy about something, and if he won’t tell me what it is, if he won’t trust me that much, I don’t see any hope for us.

Reading it, Elena felt a burst of new energy through her tiredness. Oh, God, she hated whoever was doing this. She imagined shooting them, stabbing them, watching them fall. And then, vividly, she imagined something else. Yanking back a fistful of the thief’s hair and sinking her teeth into an unprotected throat. It was a strange, unsettling vision, but for a moment it almost seemed real.

She became aware that Bonnie and Meredith were looking at her.

“Well?” she said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“I could tell you weren’t listening,” sighed Bonnie. “I just said it still doesn’t look like Da—like the killer’s work to me. It doesn’t seem like a murderer would be so petty.”

“Much as I hate to agree with her, she’s right,” Meredith said. “This smells like someone sneaky. Someone who has a grudge against you personally and who really wants to make you suffer.”

Saliva had collected in Elena’s mouth, and she swallowed. “Also somebody who’s familiar with the school. They had to fill out a form for a personals message in one of the journalism classes,” she said.

“And somebody who knew you kept a diary, assuming they stole it on purpose. Maybe they were in one of your classes that day you took it to school. Remember? When Mr. Tanner almost caught you,” Bonnie added.

“Ms. Halpern did catch me; she even read some of it aloud, a bit about Stefan. That was right after Stefan and I got together. Wait a minute, Bonnie. That night at your house when the diary was stolen, how long were you two out of the living room?”

“Just a few minutes. Yangtze had stopped barking, and I went to the door to let him in, and …” Bonnie pressed her lips together and shrugged.

“So the thief had to be familiar with your house,” said Meredith swiftly, “or he or she wouldn’t have been able to get in, get the diary, and get out again before we saw them. All right, then, we’re looking for someone sneaky and cruel, probably in one of your classes, Elena, and most likely familiar with Bonnie’s house. Someone who has a personal grudge and will stoop to anything to get you … Oh, my God.”

The three of them stared at one another.

“It has to be,” whispered Bonnie. “It has to.”

“We’re so stupid; we should have seen it right away,” said Meredith.

For Elena, it meant the sudden realization that all the anger she’d felt about this before was nothing to the anger she was capable of feeling.

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