The Venus Fix by M. J. Rose

Author:M. J. Rose [Rose, M. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780778301943
Google: hJt9AAAACAAJ
Amazon: 194088747X
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2007-10-14T23:00:00+00:00

Forty-Five

Amanda was alone at home. Her father was away on a business trip to somewhere or other—he was always gone—and her mother was at her book club meeting. She’d stayed late at the office and gone straight there, calling Amanda at seven o’clock to make sure she was home and had found the dinner the housekeeper had left for her.

She’d told her mother she wasn’t hungry. That she had a sore throat. That maybe she was coming down with something. She wasn’t sure why she’d lied, except that she really didn’t feel that good. But not because of a sore throat—it was worse than that. It was everything she had read on news sites about Penny Whistle, ZaZa and Tania and what the guys had been talking about at school before Dr. Snow showed up.

And it was Dr. Snow, talking to her as if she knew everything. As if she really could look right inside her and see how it was all twisted up and scary.

Her fingers on the keyboard, she stared at her desktop, hesitating before clicking the Internet icon. She thought she’d be over this by now, but every fucking time she signed on, she got a cramp in her stomach. Sometimes it lasted a few seconds. Sometimes it was so bad she had to lie down. She never knew why it was worse some days than others. She wanted to tell Dr. Snow about it tonight. She almost had. Almost asked her how long it would hurt. How long it would take before she stopped missing Simone? How long it would take before she’d stop thinking of her when she did the things they used to do?

Simone had lived online.

Amanda used to sign on and instantly an IM would appear.

Wht r u dng?

They’d instant-message back and forth while they did their homework, talked on the phone to other kids and watched TV. They were never not in touch with each other.

So when she went online now and the IM box didn’t pop up right away, she noticed it. And when someone else contacted her, she felt sort of disappointed when she saw the user name and it wasn’t Simonesez.

Amanda’s hands perspired and shook a little as she typed in the URL. She didn’t have to even think—it was right there. Literally at her fingertips.

She was holding her breath, not knowing what to expect. She hadn’t gone there since Simone had died. It had been months and she still missed her best friend as much as she had the very first week she had died. But she had to make sure. If she was going to tell Dr. Snow, she had to make sure first that she was right.

Silently, the Web site appeared. Amanda stared at the checkerboard of women’s photos. How was she going to find the other two girls? The ones that they had found before. She didn’t remember their names. She and Simone had just clicked on anyone who had New York in her profile,

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