Don't Vote for Me by Krista Van Dolzer

Author:Krista Van Dolzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc
Published: 2015-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve

By the time Veronica reached the yellow line, the crowd had gone perfectly still. They were probably too afraid to speak, or maybe they just wanted to hear our bones break when she snapped us in half.

“David,” Veronica said as she dipped her head at me.

I was still wearing the mask, so how she knew which one was me, I honestly had no idea. “Hi,” was all I said. My voice echoed in my ears, sounding small and insignificant.

As her entourage fanned out behind her, I couldn’t help but notice there was one of them for one of us. Brady had lined up across from Esther, and Hector and Samantha were trying to out-glare Riley and Spencer.

Hector exposed his teeth in a rough approximation of a grin. “Looks like you’re having a fiesta.”

Esther’s hands clenched into fists. “Well, no one invited you.”

“Really?” Hector replied, pulling a flyer from his pocket. “Then how did we end up with this?”

Esther ripped her mask off. “Where in Shepherd’s Vale did you get that?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he asked.

I squinted at the flyer. It was smudged with pencil lead (and what looked like carrot juice).

I set my sights on Riley. “Why’d you give them one?” I asked.

Riley held his hands up. “I didn’t!” he insisted. But then he ducked his head. “But I did throw some away.”

Esther’s face flushed purple. “You were supposed to pass them out!”

“I had extras,” Riley said.

“You weren’t supposed to have extras,” I replied.

Veronica motioned toward the flyer. “So anyone can take a shot?”

I snuck a peek at Esther (who was sneaking a peek at me). “That was the idea,” I said slowly.

Veronica stuck out her chin. “Then we want to take ours.”

Our eyes met, and somehow, an unspoken agreement passed between us. I knew that she was baiting me, waiting to see if I would blink. Owen and Radcliff had been fond of playing chicken with the beaters that had always accumulated behind Classics by Jesse (though they’d sworn me to secrecy, since Mom would have freaked out if she’d known), but these stakes seemed so much higher.

I swallowed, hard. “All right.” I wouldn’t be the first to blink.

Spencer pointed at the back. “But you’ll have to wait your turn.”

Jayden had just handed her the gun, so he tried to take it back.

Veronica didn’t let it go. “Do you really want to make me wait?”

Now it was my turn to rip my mask off. If she wanted to go toe to toe, we’d do it face to face. “Of course not,” I replied. I hoped I sounded braver than I felt. “We want you to take your turns and go.”

Veronica cocked an eyebrow. It looked like she was smiling, sort of, but it was probably an illusion. “Don’t you want to put your mask back on?”

I wasn’t sure if it was bravery or just plain, old stupidity, but if I put that mask back on, I knew I wouldn’t win a single vote. So instead of doing the right thing, I drew myself up to my full height.

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