Fairy,
Texas. A small town like any other.
Laney Harris didn't want to live there. When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that "boring" would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see. And then there were Josh and Mason, two gorgeous glimmering-eyed classmates whose interest in her might not be for the reasons she hoped. Not to mention that dead guy she nearly tripped over in gym class.
She was right. Boring took on an entirely new dimension in Fairy, Texas.
Laney Harris didn't want to live there. When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that "boring" would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see. And then there were Josh and Mason, two gorgeous glimmering-eyed classmates whose interest in her might not be for the reasons she hoped. Not to mention that dead guy she nearly tripped over in gym class.
She was right. Boring took on an entirely new dimension in Fairy, Texas.
One Click to Amazon
Excerpt:
Fairy High could have fit into one
wing of my old school. The three-story, red brick building looked like it had
been around for at least a century—it actually had carvings over two of the
doorways that read “Men’s Entrance” and “Women’s Entrance.” I was glad to see
that none of the kids paid any attention to those instructions.
“Counselor’s
office,” I muttered to myself. At least I wasn’t starting in the middle of a
term—though given the fact that there were fewer than 500 students in the
entire high school, I didn’t think I was going to be able to go unnoticed, even
in the general bustle of the first day back from summer vacation.
I
walked through the door marked “Men’s Entrance,” just be contrary, and faced a
long hallway lined with heavy wooden doors. The spaces in between the doors
were filled with lockers and marble staircases with ornate hand-rails flanked
each end of the long hallway. Students poured in behind me, calling out
greetings to each other and jostling me off to the side while I tried to get my
bearings. None of the doors obviously led to a main office; I was going to have
to walk the entire length of the hallway. And people were already starting to
stare and whisper.
God.
I hated being the new kid.
I
took a deep breath and stepped forward. I made it halfway down the hall without
seeing anything informative—all the doors had numbers over them and many of
them had name plaques, but neither of those things did me any good since I
didn’t know the name or office number for the counselor. I was almost getting
desperate enough to ask Kayla, but of course she was nowhere to be seen.
I
turned back from scanning the halls for her and caught sight of the first adult
I’d seen—and almost screamed. As it was, I gasped loudly enough for a guy
walking past me to do a double take. The man standing in the open doorway was
tall, over six feet, and way skinny—so emaciated that it looked like you ought
to be able to see his ribs through his shirt, if his shirt didn’t hang so
loosely on him. He had white hair that stuck out in tufts, thin lips, a sharp
nose, and pale blue eyes that narrowed as he watched the kids walk past—and all
the kids gave him a wide berth without even seeming to notice that they did so.
He stood in an empty circle while students streamed around him in the crowded
hallway.
But
none of that was what made me almost scream.
For
a moment, just as I’d turned toward him, I could have sworn that I’d seen the
shadow of two huge, black, leathery wings stretched out behind him.
About the Author
Margo Bond Collins is the author of a number of novels,
including Waking Up Dead, Fairy, Texas, and Legally Undead (forthcoming in 2014). She lives in Texas with her
husband, their daughter, and several spoiled pets. She teaches college-level
English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys
reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of
her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and
other monsters.
Connect with Margo
Twitter @MargoBondCollin
No comments