river she had seen from a distance right before she woke up.
She couldn?t remember it.
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She knew she had felt a sigh-worthy relief, and only one thing
could have made her feel that way in the dry lands. Water. But she
couldn?t remember anything about it. How could she forget a river
in the dry lands? It was unthinkable, so she stopped thinking about
it.
It bothered her that
her brain refused to think about it. She
walked, still naked and dripping wet, to the vanity in her bedroom,
picked up some old viper-green eyeliner Claire had left the last
time she slept over, and wrote THE RIVER I CAN?T REMEMBER
on the mirror, just in case she forgot again. Then she got dressed.
It was getting cold out, and the air was damp with fog. Helen
zipped her jacket up to her throat and regretted not bringing
gloves. As she rode to school she had to keep one hand in her pocket
and one on the handlebars, and then switch off when the hand
she was using to steer got too numb.
When she arrived she saw Lucas waiting in the parking lot, leaning
up against an Audi she?d seen in the Deloses? garage, but never
seen him drive before. It reminded her how stupid she?d been to
think he was going to kiss her that night in his garage. She dropped
her head and hurried toward the school without waving to him. He
took a step after her and opened his mouth to say something, but
stopped himself and let her go.
When Helen got to the door, she heard Claire call out from behind.
She paused and waited for her to catch up.
?Are you two fighting?? she asked, glancing back at Lucas?s
stooped form. When she got a good look at how terrible Helen